EU calls for coronavirus investigation to focus on animal-to-human transmission
- Josep Borrell had previously said bloc would push for inquiry into ‘origins of pandemic’ but World Health Assembly resolution concentrates on how it entered human population in first place
- Bloc also pushes for evaluation of World Health Organisation’s performance and calls for better pandemic prevention measures
The European Union has called for an investigation into how the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 was transmitted from animals to humans.
A resolution, tabled by the EU and backed by 55 countries, also called for an evaluation of the World Health Organisation’s performance and for plans to improve global pandemic prevention.
Previously EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had said the bloc would push for a “scientific and independent inquiry” into the “origins of the pandemic”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had urged China to cooperate with the probe, saying the world has lessons to learn and should establish an early-warning system.
All EU member states backed the draft resolution; as did Britain, Australia, Brazil, Turkey, Japan and South Korea – but the US and China are not among the signatories.
The World Health Assembly resolution said the UN health agency should work with the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organisation to identify the “zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population, including the possible role of intermediate hosts” through “scientific and collaborative field missions”.