WHO chief says it was ‘premature’ to rule out Covid lab leak

The head of the World Health Organization acknowledged it was premature to rule out a potential link between the Covid19 pandemic and a laboratory leak and he said Thursday he is asking China to be more transparent as scientists search for the origins of the coronavirusIn a rare departure from his usual deference to powerful member countries WHO DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said getting access to raw data had been a challenge for the international team that travelled to China earlier this year to investigate the source of Covid19 The first human cases were identified in the Chinese city of WuhanAlso read lsquoWorld is in lsquoearly stagesrsquo of third Covid19 waversquoTedros told reporters that the UN health agency based in Geneva is ldquoasking actually China to be transparent open and cooperate especially on the information raw data that we asked for at the early days of the pandemicrdquo Watch WHO chief warns of strong likelihood of more dangerous Covid variantsHe said there had been a ldquopremature pushrdquo to rule out the theory that the virus might have escaped from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan undermining WHOs own March report which concluded that a laboratory leak was ldquoextremely unlikelyrdquoldquoI was a lab technician myself Irsquom an immunologist and I have worked in the lab and lab accidents happenrdquo Tedros said ldquoItrsquos commonrdquoIn recent months the idea that the pandemic started somehow in a laboratory mdash and perhaps involved an engineered virus mdash has gained traction especially with President Joe Biden ordering a review of US intelligence to assess the possibility in MayChina has struck back aggressively arguing that attempts to link the origins of Covid19 to a lab are politically motivated and has suggested that the outbreak might have started abroad At WHOs annual meeting of health ministers in the spring China said that the future search for Covid19s origins should continue mdash in other countriesMost scientists suspect that the coronavirus originated in bats but the exact route by which it first jumped into people via an intermediary animal or in some other way has not yet been determined It typically takes decades to narrow down the natural source of an animal virus like Ebola or SARSTedros said that ldquochecking what happened especially in our labs is important to nailing down if the pandemic had any laboratory linksldquoWe need information direct information on what the situation of this lab was before and at the start of the pandemicrdquo the WHO chief said adding that Chinas cooperation was critical ldquoIf we get full information we can exclude the lab connectionrdquoThroughout the pandemic Tedros has repeatedly praised China for its speed and transparency despite senior WHO officials internally griping about obfuscation from their Chinese counterpartsLast year The Associated Press found that WHO was frustrated by a lack of details from China during the early stages of the coronavirus spread and showed that China was clamping down on the hidden hunt for the pandemics originsNumerous public health experts have also called for an independent examination of Covid19s origins arguing WHO does not have the political clout to conduct such a forensic analysis and that the UN agency has failed after more than a year to extract critical details from ChinaJamie Metzl who has led a group of scientists calling for a broader origins investigation welcomed Tedros comments but said it was ldquodeeply unfortunate and dangerousrdquo that there were no current plans for a probe led by experts beyond the UN health agency saying that China has repeatedly blocked requests for all relevant records and samplesGeorgetown University law professor Lawrence Gostin an expert in public health law said Tedros unusual plea for Chinese cooperation underlines how weak WHO isldquoWHO has no powers or political heft to demand access to information critical for global healthrdquo Gostin who also is director of a WHO Collaborating Center on Public Health Law and Human Rights ldquoAll Tedros can do is use the bully pulpit but it will fall on deaf earsrdquo he saidAny WHOled mission to China also requires government approval for all experts who travel to the country as well as permission to visit field sites and final approval on any trip reportTedros appeal for transparency was echoed by German Health Minister Jens Spahn who urged Chinese officials to allow the investigation into the origins of the virus to proceedldquoWe do appreciate the cooperation of the Chinese government so far for the first mission Spahn said ldquoBut thatrsquos not yet enoughrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever