Scotland’s first woman bishop is at the centre of a “bullying” row that is threatening to cause a schism with the Episcopal Church.

The Rt Reverend Anne Dyer, 63, was consecrated as the Anglican bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney in 2018. The Scottish Episcopal Church has begun an investigation after she dismissed the musical director at her cathedral and suspended a high-profile priest.

Lord Glenarthur, a church member and a minister of state for Scotland in the Thatcher government, was so dismayed that he wrote to The Most Rev Mark Strange, primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, urging him to intervene. He alleges that he was “deliberately misled” when he asked Bishop Dyer about recent developments and insisted that there was growing unease over her conduct.

Last year she and the other bishops from the country’s third largest Christian denomination took part in bullying awareness training after a report suggested that harassment was endemic within Scotland’s Anglican community. A survey found a “negative atmosphere which can foster bullying and harassment within the church” — with more than a third of clergy reporting being victimised.

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Scotland’s first woman bishop is at the centre of a bullying row – a year after all bishops in the Episcopal Church underwent bullying training. https://t.co/xMUczJ2YIY

— TimesEditorScotland (@magnusllewellin) January 9, 2021

Britain has one of the most aggressive surveillance regimens, analyzing up to 10 percent of samples that test positive for the virus. But few countries have such robust systems in place. The United States sequences less than 1 percent of its positive samples. And others cannot hope to afford the equipment or build such networks in time for this pandemic.

In Brazil, labs that had redirected their attention from Zika to the coronavirus had discovered a worrisome mutation there as early as this spring. But little is known about the variants circulating in the country, or how quickly they are spreading.

“We just don’t know because no one is either sequencing or sharing the data,” said Dr. Nuno Faria at Imperial College and Oxford University who coordinates genomic sequencing projects with colleagues in Brazil. “Genomic surveillance is expensive.”

As the virus continues to mutate, other significant variants will almost certainly emerge. And those that make the virus hardier, or more contagious, will be more likely to spread, Dr. Read said.

“The faster we can get the vaccines out, the faster we can get on top of these variants,” he said. “There’s no room for complacency here.”

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As the coronavirus mutates to become more contagious, scientists around the globe are pressing for a faster vaccine rollout and funding for genetic surveillance. https://t.co/6ScCBUH52C

— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 9, 2021

God of all creation, who dost call us to make disciples of all nations and to proclaim thy mercy and love: Grant that we, after the example of thy servant Julia Chester Emery, might have vision and courage in proclaiming the Gospel to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ, our light and our salvation, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates Julia Chester Emery, Lay Leader and Missionary, 1922 https://t.co/7eJaSe8o2N pic.twitter.com/R974R9eQY5

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) January 9, 2020

O God, who by the shining of a star didst guide the wise men to behold thy Son, our Lord: Show us thy heavenly light, and give us grace to follow until we find him, and, finding him, rejoice. And grant that as they presented gold, frankincense, and myrrh, we now may bring him the offering of a loving heart, an adoring spirit, and an obedient will; for his honour, and for thy glory, O God most high.

Happy Epiphany! The Magi in #HaydonBridge Old Church. pic.twitter.com/BOn8KvUB1Q

— Michael Sadgrove 🇪🇺 (@MichaelSadgrove) January 6, 2016

The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and for evermore.

–Psalm 121:8

Adoration of the Magi, a copy after Hugo van der Goes, Netherlandish, late 15th century (Met Museum) #Epiphany pic.twitter.com/Wq1QxUQDLY

— John McCafferty (@jdmccafferty) January 6, 2019