Coronavirus: Balancing act for WHO on next phase of investigation into Covid-19 origins

UN body faces challenge to pursue ‘lines of inquiry that China will want … while at the same time meeting the expectations of the US’

There are growing calls to look into the theory that the virus emerged from a lab in Wuhan, but that would require full access to the facility

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Some nations said the findings of a WHO-led coronavirus inquiry were flawed by a lack of transparency and independence from Beijing. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:00pm, 26 May 2021Updated: 2:06am, 27 May 2021

Questions over what the next steps will be in the search for the origins of Covid-19 hang over an annual meeting of the World Health Organization’s member countries this week. Answering those will be a steep challenge for the UN body, experts say.

The meeting is the first since the controversial conclusion earlier this year of a WHO-led inquiry into how the virus that causes Covid-19 first began spreading in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where it was detected in late 2019.

A handful of nations at the time – including the United States, Britain and Japan – said the findings were flawed by a lack of transparency and independence from the Chinese government. WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also cited gaps in data access for the international scientists on the ground, though China has defended its transparency.

Now, a number of countries including the US, Japan, Britain and the European Union member states are calling for the next phase of research to start, into how the new virus began spreading in humans.

US representative Jeremy Konyndyk told the World Health Assembly on Tuesday that the purpose of an expert-led inquiry was “not to assign blame”. Photo: Bloomberg

“We [the US] underscore the importance of a robust, comprehensive and expert-led inquiry into the origins of Covid-19 which is central to ensuring that we are prepared to mitigate and successfully respond to future outbreaks and prevent future pandemics,” US representative Jeremy Konyndyk told the World Health Assembly on Tuesday, noting the purpose was “not to assign blame”.