Several countries have expressed their doubts and concerns about the information contained in the latest World Health Organization (WHO) expert report on the origin of Covid-19.
On Tuesday, the United States and 13 of its allied countries pointed out several dysfunctions in the investigation of WHO experts who did not have access to the data as it should have been, according to them. The message from his countries was in some ways endorsed by the head of WHO as well.
“The study of international experts on the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been significantly delayed and has not had exhaustive access to the original data and samples”, denounce the United States, and countries like UK, Israel, Canada, Japan, Australia, Denmark, and Norway.
Indeed, the visit of WHO experts could only take place in 2021, a year after the first coronavirus. “Too late”, have estimated some specialists who affirm that it will be difficult in the state to know the real origin of virus.
“It is crucial that independent experts can have full access to all data,” add the signatories who include the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia and South Korea.
The head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who had not hesitated to denounce the blockades of the Chinese authorities vis-à-vis this investigation, especially when it did not issue visas to the experts.
This time, he did not rule out the possibility of creating new research missions in China to investigate the origin of the coronavirus, at a time when so far there are only hypotheses, often confused and the versions contradict each other.
Thus, he criticized the attitude of Beijing, which refused to sufficiently share the data with international experts who were followed all the time by Chinese experts as well.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called for an investigation into the hypothesis of a virus leak from a laboratory in China to explain the origin of the pandemic, while China strongly refutes this hypothesis.
“It requires further investigation, probably with new missions with specialist experts that I am ready to deploy,” he said.
The head of the WHO had been criticized for a time by the United States for being biased towards China at the start of the health crisis, defending it in the face of criticism from certain countries who had pointed to Beijing’s responsibility in the pandemic.
According to the report, the origin of the coronavirus could be explained by transmission of the virus to humans by two animals, including a “probable to very probable” intermediary. Some scientists thought it was the snake while others claim it was a mammal.
The track of a transmission by frozen meat is also considered “possible”, and it is the one supported by Beijing. On the other hand, the theory of the virus escaping from a laboratory would be “unlikely”.
