One of the World Health Organization experts who went to Wuhan at the start of the year, Peter Embarek, has proposed a new hypothesis.
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| [COVID-19 in CHINA] |
The World Health Organization (WHO) has come up with a fresh theory concerning the coronavirus's genesis. Following a visit to Wuhan by many specialists at the start of the year, they did not rule out any possibilities, including the possibility that it originated in a laboratory in the Chinese city. Now, Peter Embarek, one of the scientists involved, claims that it may have been of animal origin and that it was not far from the Wuhan virology facility.
In an interview with Danish television station TV2, he suggests that a worker in this facility may have been infected by a bat. "One of the likely theories is that some employee was infected while gathering samples," he adds. He does, however, remind out that the organization's Wuhan mission was unable to discover evidence that supports this theory.
The WHO team of specialists did not rule out any possibilities during their visit to Wuhan. According to the final study, the most likely scenario was that it emerged from nature and evolved from an animal to a human person. On the other hand, they considered the laboratory accident to be less plausible. "Finding the origins of a new virus is an incredibly difficult endeavor that takes years," the WHO said.
Statement from the World Health Organization
In a study released by the WHO on Thursday afternoon, he emphasizes that the goal of locating the pandemic's source is not to "find perpetrators, point fingers, or win political triumphs." They stress the "critical necessity" of understanding how and when the epidemic began. "An extra analysis of the raw data from the initial instances will be included in the next series of research," the group said.
Criticisms of China
This comment comes at a time when the United States and China are at odds. The North American country, particularly when it was led by Donald Trump, was one of the major instigators of the virus's creation in a Wuhan laboratory. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged China to be "honest and accessible," sharing "raw data from the pandemic's early days." Embarek also mentioned the challenges his team had during their visit to Wuhan in this respect.
Beijing claims not to have withheld information or hampered the work of WHO specialists on the opposing side of the issue. For a few days, they have urged that the hunt for COVID's origin be expanded "to other nations," despite the fact that the virus is very unlikely to have originated in a Wuhan laboratory.
"It is intolerable that the WHO now launches a second round of investigations based on laboratory theory," the Asian country's officials said. According to the chairman of the Chinese delegation on COVID's origins, the next phase should focus on nations with "horseshoe bats and pangolins." The virus might have arrived in Wuhan "via the cold chain of frozen goods," according to this specialist.
Finally, the country's official press turned against it, claiming that the initial COVID outbreaks might have occurred in other nations such as Spain, Italy, or France. They also point out that the virus might have escaped the United States' Fort Detrick facility, which closed in July 2019. "If you don't want to give up on the laboratory idea, you could look at other options, such as Fort Detrick. However, we feel that the WHO assessment, which deems a leak to be extremely unlikely, should be followed "Ma Zhaxou, Deputy Foreign Minister, stated.