WHO: China ‘withheld data’ in Covid-19 origins probe
All hypotheses remain on the table, WHO chief says
The head of the World Health Organisation has criticised China for withholding information on the origins of the pandemic and warned that the investigation into a potential laboratory leak was “not extensive enough”.
In a statement to member states during a briefing on the WHO’s longawaited report into how the virus emerged, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO, issued a rare rebuke to China.
He said investigators had reported difficulties in “accessing raw data” and “would benefit from full access to data including biological samples from at least September 2019”.
He added: “I expect future collaborative studies to include more timely and comprehensive data sharing,” he said, insisting that “all hypotheses remain on the table”. WHO and Dr Tedros himself have previously been criticised for being too close to China.
The 123-page report outlining the key findings from a highlyanticipated research trip to Wuhan was published yesterday. It concluded that, while possible, it is “extremely unlikely” that Sars-Cov-2 escaped from a lab.
Instead, the virus was most likely to have been passed from bats via an
“intermediate animal host” to humans, before sparking an “explosive outbreak” in Wuhan in December 2019, scientists said. The investigation has already been the subject of intense debate. While most experts expected inconclusive findings — establishing the origins of diseases usually takes years, if not decades — the lack of a “smoking gun” was a disappointment which has only heightened international tensions.
Yesterday, the US, UK and 12 other countries issued a joint statement expressing concerns that the report was delayed and that the international scientists lacked access to complete data.
“It is equally essential that we voice our shared concerns that the international expert study on the source of the Sars-Cov-2 virus was significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples,” they said.
The statement was also signed by the governments of Australia, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Republic of Korea and Slovenia.
Meanwhile, the European Union said that while the findings were a “helpful first step”, they regret the delays and the “limited availability of early samples and related data”.
“This report is a very important beginning, but it is not the end,” added Dr Tedros. “We have not yet found the source of the virus and we must continue to follow the science and leave no stone unturned as we do.”