The CEO of the World Health Organization (WHO)Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, today called on any country that has any information about the origin of the pandemic COVID-19 to share it with this entity and the rest of the scientific community.
This would allow the world to understand what happened, prevent a new pandemic and be prepared in case it is unavoidable, he added, reacting to FBI Director Christopher Wray’s recent assertion that the pandemic was likely caused by a leak. in a laboratory in Wuhan (China).
Tedros clarified that the WHO “has not abandoned its plans to identify the origins of the covid-19 pandemic, contrary to what is indicated by press reports and comments by politicians.”
He regretted that the investigations carried out to find out how the health emergency began, persisted in politicizing, since he considers that this only makes the search for the truth more difficult.
The WHO created in 2021 a scientific advisory group – made up of specialists from different countries – to determine the origins of new pathogens, including the cause of COVID-19.
China has rejected the comments of the FBI director, whom it undermined credibility and has called on the US to respect “science and facts”.
A mission of scientists —prior to the creation of the advisory group— visited Wuhan a year after the outbreak of the pandemic and carried out investigations on the ground, and although it did not reach definitive conclusions, it was considered unlikely that the pandemic was due to a leak of laboratory.
Subsequently, the WHO advisers recommended a series of studies that could clarify the situation and that should be carried out in China and other countries in order to verify or rule out the different hypotheses related to the origin of the disease.
“We continue to ask China to be transparent and to share information, to carry out the necessary investigations and share the results,” said Tedros, who said that he has written or spoken several times with Chinese authorities to this end.
The person in charge of the WHO maintained that until that does not happen “all the hypotheses about the origin of the virus remain on the table.”
“Understanding the origins of COVID remains a scientific, but also a moral imperative in the face of millions of people who have lost their lives, their families, and those who suffer from long-term COVID,” he commented.
