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Eco/Invest/Demography

Unite human,animal and environmental health to prevent the next pandemic: UN Report

The report identifies seven trends driving the increasing emergence of zoonotic diseases, including increased demand for animal protein; a rise in intense and unsustainable farming; the increased use and exploitation of wildlife; and the climate crisis. The report finds that Africa in particular, which has experienced and responded to a number of zoonotic epidemics including most recently, to Ebola outbreaks, could be a source of important solutions to quell future outbreaks.

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WHO acknowledges ‘evidence emerging’ of airborne spread of COVID-19

Speaking at Tuesday’s briefing in Geneva, Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHO’s technical lead for infection prevention and control, said there was evidence emerging of airborne transmission of the coronavirus, but that it was not definitive.
“…The possibility of airborne transmission in public settings – especially in very specific conditions, crowded, closed, poorly ventilated settings that have been described, cannot be ruled out,” she said.

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TikTok quits Hong Kong as U.S. giants suspend processing data requests

The U.S. companies’ social media platforms are generally banned in China, where access is blocked by Beijing’s “great firewall”. Most have operated freely in Hong Kong, but will now have to determine how to comply with new rules for the city, which rights groups say threaten freedoms enjoyed for decades.

Facebook (FB.O), which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram, said in a statement on Monday it was pausing reviews of user data requests for all of its services “pending further assessment of the National Security Law.”

Google and Twitter (TWTR.N) said they had suspended their reviews of data requests from Hong Kong authorities immediately after the law went into effect last week. Zoom and Microsoft’s LinkedIn issued similar statements on Tuesday.

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Centre urges states,UTs to effectively address mental health issues

In a letter addressed to Chief Secretaries and the administrators of all states and UTs, Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan said that psychosocial concerns cut across age groups and segments of the population and that it is imperative that all the care providers including volunteers, police and all frontline workers are aware and equipped with the appropriate training.

The country is grappling with the challenge of Covid-l9 and concerns relating to mental health, manifested in feelings of fear, anxiety, negative thoughts about consequences of disease and subsequent depression are being raised, Sudan said in the letter, dated July 6.

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