US accuses China of hacking organisations carrying out research on COVID-19

The United States of America on Wednesday accused China-linked hackers of breaking into organisations in its domain carrying out research into the novel COVID-19 disease which has fast spread across the globe.

This development has forced authorities to warn US scientists, public health officials of possible cyber-theft by China hackers as United Nations says millions will fall into extreme poverty due to the outbreak of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, US states are beginning to restart their economies after months of paralysing COVID-19 lockdowns, but health experts have warned of a rebound of the deadly virus.

In a related development, Mexico’s health ministry confirmed 1,862 new cases of coronavirus infections on Wednesday, along with 294 additional deaths, slightly lower than the country’s record number of daily fatalities reported the day before, Reuters news agency reported.

The new infections brought confirmed coronavirus cases to 40,186 and 4,220 deaths in total, according to the official tally.