Coronavirus Asia: New Study Indicates French Outbreak Not From China

As the world races to find "patient zero" for further studies on the novel coronavirus, a group of French scientists unveiled in a new study that the coronavirus strain in France may not have originated from China.

New Study Raises Questions on COVID-19 Origins

A group of researchers led by Dr. Sylvie van der Werf and Etienne Simon-Loriere found in their non-peer reviewed paper published on bioRxiv.org last week that the strain in France may have been locally transmitted and not caused by imported COVID-19 cases from China, the South China Morning Post reported.

The scientists at the Institut Pasteur in Paris revealed that genetic analysis indicated dominant types of viral strains in France that did not come from either China, the origin country of the COVID-19 strain, or Italy, the earliest outbreak site in Europe.

"We can infer that the virus was silently circulating in France in February," the researchers said. Their study has once again raised questions on the true origin of coronavirus outbreaks in countries outside China as some have alleged that the COVID-19 strain was accidentally released from a lab in Wuhan.

China repeatedly denied the allegations and the World Health Organization (WHO) has reiterated that there is no evidence pointing to the novel coronavirus being a man-made strain.

As of Tuesday, China registered 83,918 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 4,637 deaths.

Long Holiday Period in South Korea

South Korean officials are expecting long holidays this week even if the number of new coronavirus cases in the country continues to decline. Holiday events are known crowd gatherers, which is the main reason why health experts remain vigilant.

According to the Yonhap News Agency, South Korea logged only nine new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. However, the country wants to ensure that a resurgence in cases will be prevented during this week's holidays.

As of Tuesday, South Korea registered 10,761 confirmed coronavirus cases and 244 deaths.

Coronavirus Stalls Agricultural Training in Japan

The massive travel ban that Japan has implemented on foreign countries dealt a huge blow to the agricultural sector in the country as farm owners face shortages in manpower among foreign planting trainees, Kyodo News reported.

Before the COVID-19 outbreak, Japan had been accepting foreign trainees in the agricultural sector. However, fear of potential imported coronavirus cases led the government to ban travel from many countries.

The Japanese tourism industry has also been suffering from the shortage in tourists due to the ban. On the other hand, officials noted that the restrictions were put in place to flatten the curve.

As of Tuesday, Japan logged 14,153 confirmed coronavirus cases and 385 deaths.

Over 500 New Cases in Singapore

Singapore on Tuesday reported 528 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the city-state's total to 14,951.

According to Channel News Asia, as with previous cases over the past two weeks, most of the infected patients were from residents of foreign work dormitories, where the biggest clusters in Singapore were detected earlier this month.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said of the confirmed cases, 511 were foreign work permit holders and 10 were Singaporeans. Furthermore, seven were outside dormitories who contracted the disease in the community.

As of Tuesday, 14 people have lost their lives to the COVID-19 strain in Singapore.