WHO: COVID likely jumped from animals

GENEVA (AP) — A joint World Health OrganizationChina study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission from bats to humans through another animal is the likeliest scenario and that a lab leak is “extremely unlikely.”

The findings offer little new insight into how the virus first emerged and leave many questions unanswered.

The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis — a speculative theory that was promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump among others. It also said the role played by a seafood market where human cases were first identified was uncertain.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases expert, said he would like to see the report’s raw information.

“I’d also would like to inquire as to the extent in which the people who were on that group had access directly to the data that they would need to make a determination,”î he said. “I want to read the report first and then get a feel for what they really had access to — or did not have access to.”î

The report is being closely watched since discovering the origins of the virus could help scientists prevent future pandemics — but it’s also extremely sensitive since China bristles at any suggestion that it is to blame for the current one.

Last year, the Chinese government was strictly controlling all research into its origins. And repeated delays in the report’s release have raised questions about whether China was trying to skew its conclusions.