U.S. calls for a deeper probe into origins of the COVID-19 outbreak

The United States has recently called for a panel of international experts to be allowed to investigate the source of the Coronavirus pandemic and the ‘early days of the outbreak’ in a second phase investigation on the virus origin.

Intelligence agencies from the U.S. have been inspecting reports indicating researchers at a Chinese virology lab were severely ill in 2019, just one month before the first cases of Covid-19 were recorded, according to U.S. government sources who also warned that there is no proof that the culmination of the disease was at the lab.

Health Secretary of the U.S., Xavier Becerra reportedly said that this second phase of investigation must be conducted with transparent and science-based references and provide international experts the independence to evaluate the origin of the viral outbreak.

In this regard, credible sources revealed that technical teams from the WHO have been appointed to prepare a proposal for the investigation and will be presenting it to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

A WHO-led team had spent 4 weeks near and around Wuhan earlier this year and published a report written jointly with Chinese scientists, stating that the virus has most likely been transmitted to humans from bats via another animal as an intermediary.

Notably, the WHO report also reiterated that the introduction of the virus through a laboratory incident is an extremely unlikely possibility.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijhian, was quoted saying that the research institute remained unexposed to the Covid-19 virus before 30th December 2019 and has a zero- infection rate among students and staff to date.

China recently dismissed the reports of researchers being ill before the outbreak as ‘untrue’. However, Chinese authorities have confirmed that samples of the coronavirus were taken to the laboratory for further research and study.

Source Link –

https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2021/0525/1223772-coronavirus-investigation/