The “World Health” retracts its previous assessment on the origin of Corona
More than two years after the emergence of the Corona virus in China, and after counting at least 6.3 million deaths worldwide as a result of the pandemic, the World Health Organization is recommending in its strongest terms yet that a deeper investigation is needed to find out whether a laboratory accident might be thrown Blame it for the outbreak.
This position represents a sharp retreat from the United Nations Health Organization's initial assessment of the origin of the pandemic, and comes after many critics accused the WHO of rushing to dismiss or downplay the laboratory leak theory that has put Chinese officials on the defensive.
The World Health Organization concluded last year that it was "extremely unlikely" that COVID-19 had leaked to humans in the city of Wuhan from a laboratory.
Many scientists believe that the virus was transmitted to humans from bats, possibly via another animal.
However, in a report released on Thursday, a group of WHO experts said "basic data" to explain how the pandemic began is still missing.
The scientists said the group "will remain open to all scientific evidence that will be available in the future to allow comprehensive testing of all reasonable hypotheses."
It usually takes years to identify the source of disease in animals.
It took more than a decade for scientists to identify the species of bat that was the natural reservoir of the SARS virus, which is from the Covid-19 family.
The WHO expert group also noted that since laboratory accidents in the past have caused some outbreaks, a highly politicized theory cannot be ruled out.
The report could revive accusations that the WHO initially over-accepted the Chinese government's explanations early on in the outbreak, ultimately killing millions of people and infecting millions more, forcing dozens of countries into lockdown, and hurting the global economy.
An Associated Press investigation found that some top WHO officials became frustrated with China during the initial outbreak, even as the WHO praised Chinese President Xi Jinping.
And they were upset by the way China sought to clamp down on research into the origins of COVID-19.
Former US President Donald Trump had repeatedly speculated - without evidence - that Covid-19 began in a Chinese laboratory.
He accused the WHO of "colluding" with China to cover up the initial outbreak, citing the WHO's continued public praise of Beijing despite its refusal to share important data.
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