‘Science-based’ probe into origins of Covid-19 must take place, US says
US intelligence agencies are examining reports that researchers at a Chinese virology lab were very ill in 2019 a month before the first cases of Covid-19 were reported
25 May 2021 - 13:28
byStephanie Nebehay
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A researcher works inside a laboratory during the development of the Italian ReiThera Covid-19 vaccine in Rome, Italy, in this undated handout photo . File photo: HANDOUT via REUTERS/REITHERA
Geneva — The US called on Tuesday for international experts to be allowed to evaluate the source of the coronavirus and the “early days of the outbreak” in a second phase of an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus.
US intelligence agencies are examining reports that researchers at a Chinese virology laboratory were seriously ill in 2019 a month before the first cases of Covid-19 were reported, according to US government sources, who cautioned on Monday that there was still no proof the disease originated at the lab.
“Phase 2 of the Covid-19 origins study must be launched with terms of reference that are transparent, science-based and give international experts the independence to fully assess the source of the virus and the early days of the outbreak,” US health secretary Xavier Becerra said in a video message to the annual ministerial meeting of the World Health Organisation (WHO)
Becerra did not mention China directly, where the first known human cases of Covid-19 emerged in the central city of Wuhan in December 2019.
The origin of the virus is hotly contested. In a report issued in March written jointly with Chinese scientists, a WHO-led team that spent four weeks in and around Wuhan in January and February said the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal, and that “introduction through a laboratory incident was considered to be an extremely unlikely pathway”.
A WHO spokesperson, Tarik Jasarevic, asking about a follow-up mission, told Reuters on Monday that the agency was reviewing the recommendations from the report at the technical level.
“The technical teams will prepare a proposal for the next studies that will need to be carried out, and will present that to the director-general for his consideration,” he said, referring to WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Jasarevic, noting Tedros’s remarks on March 30, said that further studies would be needed in a range of areas, including on the early detection of cases and clusters, the potential roles of animal markets, transmission via the food chain and the laboratory incident hypothesis.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
‘Science-based’ probe into origins of Covid-19 must take place, US says
US intelligence agencies are examining reports that researchers at a Chinese virology lab were very ill in 2019 a month before the first cases of Covid-19 were reported
Geneva — The US called on Tuesday for international experts to be allowed to evaluate the source of the coronavirus and the “early days of the outbreak” in a second phase of an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus.
US intelligence agencies are examining reports that researchers at a Chinese virology laboratory were seriously ill in 2019 a month before the first cases of Covid-19 were reported, according to US government sources, who cautioned on Monday that there was still no proof the disease originated at the lab.
“Phase 2 of the Covid-19 origins study must be launched with terms of reference that are transparent, science-based and give international experts the independence to fully assess the source of the virus and the early days of the outbreak,” US health secretary Xavier Becerra said in a video message to the annual ministerial meeting of the World Health Organisation (WHO)
Becerra did not mention China directly, where the first known human cases of Covid-19 emerged in the central city of Wuhan in December 2019.
The origin of the virus is hotly contested. In a report issued in March written jointly with Chinese scientists, a WHO-led team that spent four weeks in and around Wuhan in January and February said the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal, and that “introduction through a laboratory incident was considered to be an extremely unlikely pathway”.
A WHO spokesperson, Tarik Jasarevic, asking about a follow-up mission, told Reuters on Monday that the agency was reviewing the recommendations from the report at the technical level.
“The technical teams will prepare a proposal for the next studies that will need to be carried out, and will present that to the director-general for his consideration,” he said, referring to WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Jasarevic, noting Tedros’s remarks on March 30, said that further studies would be needed in a range of areas, including on the early detection of cases and clusters, the potential roles of animal markets, transmission via the food chain and the laboratory incident hypothesis.
Reuters
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