Draft WHO coronavirus report pours cold water on lab-leak theory: AP
- News agency says it obtained document from diplomat from WHO member country
- Investigators also appear to give little weight to possibility that virus came into China via imported frozen food
Since then, the WHO report has been the subject of intense scrutiny, with the United States questioning the level of access scientists had in Wuhan and China accusing the US of politicising the report.
06:05
One year into Covid-19 pandemic, world marks anniversary of WHO’s declaration on coronavirus
AP said it obtained what appeared to be a near-final version of the report, expected to be released this week, from a diplomat in Geneva from a WHO member country who did not want to be identified. It was not clear whether the draft would be further modified, the news agency said.
Researchers ranked four scenarios that could account for the emergence of the virus, according to AP. Topping the list was transmission through an intermediary animal, a possibility that was “very likely”. Direct spread from bats to humans was “likely”, while spread through “cold-chain” food products was “possible but not likely”.
The findings contain few solid conclusions but cap a mission that was months in the making and involved over a dozen international and WHO researchers travelling to review research conducted by Chinese scientists.
Scientists have said that uncovering the source of the coronavirus can help prevent future outbreaks. But the origins have also become a political football between China and the US, with members of the former Trump administration suggesting, without evidence, that the virus could have escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.