Geneva (AFP)
The WHO, which calls on Beijing to associate it with investigations into the origin of the new coronavirus, said on Friday that it was "of natural origin" when the American president linked it to a Chinese laboratory.
Leaving from Wuhan in China in December, the epidemic has infected more than 3.2 million people worldwide and left at least 230,000 dead, according to a report by AFP.
"Regarding the origin of the virus in Wuhan, we have listened to many scientists who have studied this virus, and we are assured that this virus is of natural origin," said the director of emergency programs of the 'World Health Organization, Michael Ryan, interviewed by a reporter.
"What is important is that we determine the natural host of this virus," he continued, during a virtual press conference from the organization's headquarters in Geneva.
He explained that "the main objective is to make sure that we can understand the virus well, that we understand animal-to-human transmission and that we understand how the barrier between animal and human species was crossed".
The WHO, which has so far praised Beijing for its management of the crisis, on Friday called on the Chinese authorities to invite it to participate in "ongoing or planned" investigations into the animal origins of the virus.
This call comes when the world health authorities are severely criticized by the United States, which accuses the WHO of having delayed warning so as not to offend Beijing.
- 'no time wasted'
"We wereted no time," WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday, saying he went to China on January 28 to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and agree to the visit. on site of an international team of scientists.
"I remember people advised us not to go to China because we didn't know how the virus behaved," he said, not being "afraid" to go there. .
"This global health emergency, declared on January 30, has been declared in a timely manner," said Tedros, supported by the chairman of the WHO emergency committee, Dr. Didier Houssin.
"Lucidity a posteriori, obviously it's easy. It is much more difficult to know what will happen and to anticipate," added the Frenchman, referring to the criticisms made at the WHO.
The ad hoc emergency committee, which met for the third time on Thursday, has determined that the pandemic "obviously" remains an international emergency, Tedros said.
These 20 or so independent experts also made very general recommendations, not mentioning any country. They call for identifying the origin of the virus and assessing the balance between restrictions on air transport and their consequences, such as the difficulty of delivering humanitarian assistance.
© 2020 AFP