Covid-19 crisis: China sitting on key data on lab leak, says WHO chief

14 countries raise concerns over joint report by WHO-China on Covid origin

The World Health Organization’s chief said a mission to study the origins of the coronavirus in China was too quick to dismiss the theory of a lab leak, with the US and other governments joining in criticism of the investigation.
 
Meanwhile, a group of 14 countries including the United States and Japan has raised concerns over a report on the origins of Covid-19 by the WHO and China, arguing that the WHO team was "significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples."
 
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the probe didn’t adequately analyze the possibility of a lab accident before deciding it’s most likely the pathogen spread from bats to humans via another animal. In a briefing to member countries Tuesday, he said he is ready to deploy additional missions involving specialist experts.

 

“Although the team has concluded that a laboratory leak is the least likely hypothesis, this requires further investigation,” Tedros said in a statement. The WHO chief has consistently said all lines of inquiry are open, but Tuesday’s comments mark the first time he’s speculated about the possibility of an accidental escape.
 
Afterward, a group of more than a dozen nations issued a joint statement saying the mission’s report “lacked access to complete, original data and samples,” and called for more transparency and timeliness in response to future outbreaks
 
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