Donald Trump sparks fears of new pandemic as chilling detail in executive order emerges

 Donald Trump has sparked fears of a new pandemic after a chilling detail in a new executive order emerged.

The US President initially celebrated the order that limits research that could trigger a new pandemic. It follows global suspicion that Covid-19 was leaked from a lab in Wuhan, which China denies.

The order bans US funds being used to sponsor research abroad known as "gain-of-function", defined as when pathogens are deliberately made more dangerous. But many claim a key detail means it doesn't really alleviate the risk at all, and are warning of a deadly new pandemic on the horizon.

As reported by DailyMail, it only bans federal funds being used in "countries of concern" like China and the Iran. But in the US and other allied countries, it can allow this funding to continue to flow with increased monitoring from America.

Thomas Renz, a lawyer and vaccine critic, said: "They’re going to allow it under new regulations. And by doing that, they’re essentially saying, 'We’re fine with gain-of-function as long as it follows the current rules'.

"So in that way, they’re actually legitimising gain-of-function work in this country, which is absolutely mind-blowing to me."

Trump said after signing the bill: "It's a big deal. It could have been that we wouldn't have had the problem we had if we had this done earlier."

The Covid pandemic emerged in Wuhan at the start of 2019. While it did cause alarm, its potential to spread across the world was not fully understood.

But it quickly spread like wildfire across the globe. In the UK alone, it is reported that just under 270,000 people died with Covid listed as one of the causes on their death certificates.

Millions more died around the world.

Last month, it emerged the UK is not "fully prepared" for another pandemic, according to an expert.

GP and Physician Dr Olalekan Otulana says we can't "just wait" for the next outbreak and fears the country's care home sector is underfunded and understaffed, leaving the elderly vulnerable if another health crisis hits.