WHO says China will provide data on origins of COVID-19

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said investigations into the origins of the COVID-19 epidemic in China were hampered by a lack of preliminary data in the early days of the virus’s spread at the site, and urged the country to do more. transparent.

A team led by the World Health Organization spent four weeks in Wuhan, Hubei Province, with Chinese researchers and said in a joint report published in March that the virus was likely transmitted from bats to humans via another animal.

This team said that “introduction by lab incident is considered a highly unlikely pathway,” but countries such as the United States and some scientists were not satisfied.

“We ask China to be transparent and open and to cooperate,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference on Thursday (15).

“We owe it to the millions who suffered and the millions who died to find out what happened,” he said.

China has dismissed the theory that the virus may have escaped from a Wuhan lab as “ridiculous” and has repeatedly said that the “politicization” of the case makes investigations difficult.

Mike Ryan, an emergency specialist at the World Health Organization, said Ghebreyesus will inform 194 WHO member countries about the proposed phase two of the study.

“We look forward to working with our Chinese partners on this process, and the Director-General will outline actions for member states at Friday’s meeting,” Ryan said. Source: EBC International