An expert group charged by the World Health Organization to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic has found no definitive answer
An expert group charged by the World Health Organization to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic started released its final report Friday, reaching an unsatisfying conclusion: Scientists still aren't sure how the worst health emergency in a century began.
At a press briefing on Friday, Marietjie Venter, the group’s chair, said that most scientific data supports the hypothesis that the new coronavirus jumped to humans from animals.
That was also the conclusion drawn by the first WHO expert group that investigated the pandemic’s origins in 2021, when scientists concluded the virus likely spread from bats to humans, via another intermediary animal. At the time, WHO said a lab leak was “extremely unlikely.”
Venter said that after more than three years of work, WHO’s expert group was unable to get the necessary data to evaluate whether or not COVID-19 was the result of a lab accident, despite repeated requests for hundreds of genetic sequences and more detailed biosecurity information that were made to the Chinese government.
“Therefore, this hypothesis could not be investigated or excluded,” she said. “It was deemed to be very speculative, based on political opinions and not backed up by science.” She said that the 27-member group did not reach a consensus; one member resigned earlier this week and three others asked for their names to be removed from the report.
Venter said there was no evidence to prove that COVID-19 had been manipulated in a lab, nor was there any indication that the virus had been spreading before December 2019 anywhere outside of China. --->READ MORE HERE
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| Thomas Peter/Reuters |
The theory that Covid-19 leaked from a laboratory cannot be ruled out, the World Health Organization has admitted, following a lengthy investigation.
The Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (Sago), formed by the WHO in 2021, released a report on Friday stating that “all hypotheses remain on the table” and accusing China of blocking access to critical information.
Covid-19 emerged just eight miles from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), where scientists were importing and manipulating dangerous bat coronaviruses and had been filmed handling animals with inadequate protection.
China has refused to release full details about the experiments, despite repeated requests from multiple countries.
The new report warned: “Without information to fully assess the nature of the work on coronaviruses in Wuhan laboratories, nor information about the conditions under which this work was done, it is not possible for Sago to assess whether the first human infection(s) may have resulted due to a research-related event or breach in laboratory biosafety.
“It can therefore not be ruled out, nor can it be proven until more information is provided.”
Experts said WHO’s new stance was “highly significant” but said it should not have taken so long to reach the conclusion.
Report adds ‘almost nothing’
Viscount Ridley, co-author of Viral: the search for the origin of Covid-19, said: “Like all other formal investigations, the Sago committee found it could not rule out a lab leak. This is highly significant, and it appears to lay the blame for that on lack of Chinese government transparency. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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