The head of the World Health Organization said Thursday that it is investigating the origin of the virus. Coronavirus disease The pandemic in China was hampered by the lack of raw data for the first few days of transmission, and it was urged to be more transparent.
A WHO-led team and Chinese researchers spent four weeks in Wuhan and surrounding areas, and in a joint report in March stated that the virus may have been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal .
It stated that “it is considered extremely impossible to introduce through laboratory incidents,” but countries including the United States and some scientists are not satisfied.
WHO says additional vaccines should be provided to poor countries instead of boosting injections
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference on Thursday: “We ask China to maintain transparency, openness and cooperation.”
He said: “We owe millions of people who suffered and died to know what happened.”
China claims that the theory that the virus may escape from the Wuhan laboratory is “ridiculous” and has repeatedly stated that “politicizing” the issue will hinder investigations.
Mike Ryan, WHO’s chief emergency expert, said that Tedros will brief the 194 member states of WHO on Friday about the proposed second phase of the study.
He told reporters: “We look forward to cooperating with our Chinese counterparts in this process. The Director General will outline the measures to member states at the meeting tomorrow, which is Friday.”
German Health Minister Jens Span, who met with Tedros on Thursday, urged China to continue investigating the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic and said that more information is needed.
During his visit to the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Spann also announced a donation of 260 million euros (307 million US dollars) to WHO’s ACT-Accelerator program, which aims to ensure that the entire world, including poorer countries, gets COVID-19 -19 Vaccines and tests.
— Reports by Thomas Escritt, Kirsti Knolle and Stephanie Nebehay
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