WHO urges patience after first look for virus’ origin

GENEVA — An international team behind a long-awaited study of the possible origins of COVID-19 with Chinese colleagues on Tuesday called it a “first start,” while the U.S. and allies expressed concerns about the findings.

Team leader Peter Ben Embarek of the World Health Organization presented the team’s first-phase look into the possible origins of the pandemic that has killed nearly 2.8 million people and pummeled economies since it first turned up in China over a year ago.

The report, obtained by the Associated Press on Monday and formally published Tuesday, said transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is “extremely unlikely.” The WHO chief has said all hypotheses remain open.

After the report’s publication, the U.S. and over a dozen other countries expressed concerns about the study, pointing to delays and a lack of access to samples and data — without finger-pointing at Beijing directly. China responded by reiterating its criticism of efforts to “politicize” the issue.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration was still reviewing the WHO report.

“It doesn’t lead us to any closer (an) understanding or greater knowledge than we had six to nine months ago about the origin,” she said.

Separately, in what it called a joint statement by 14 countries, the State Department said they were calling for “momentum” for a second-phase look by experts and pointed to the need for further studies.

Critics of China’s government in Washington and beyond say it took too long to allow in the team members: Their roughly four-week visit to China in January and February came more than a year after the coronavirus outbreak was first noticed in the city of Wuhan.

The European Union, in a separate statement, echoed concerns but called the report “a helpful first step.”

Ben Embarek said the team members faced political pressure from “all sides,” but insisted: “We were never pressured to remove critical elements in our report.”

“This is only a first start — we’ve only scratched the surface of this very complex set of studies that need to be conducted,” Ben Embarek said. “We have pointed to many additional studies that should be conducted from now on.”

“This is a work in progress,” he added, “and we all have to be patient.”