Political rows hamper Covid-19 origins hunt but more China research is a top priority, says senior WHO official

The global health body’s Covid-19 lead Maria Van Kerkhove says it wants to get ‘back to the science’ as Washington and Beijing continue to trade barbs

The WHO wants to do more investigation in China even though Beijing vetoed its latest proposal, which included further investigation of the lab leak theory

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Maria Van Kerkhove says the politics of the coronavirus origins search has taken on a life of its own. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:00pm, 28 Aug 2021Updated: 12:07pm, 29 Aug 2021

Politics has complicated the search for the origins of Covid-19 but a new specialist group could help to get the investigation back on track, according to a leading World Health Organization official.

The UN body is looking for up to 25 specialists to join the new Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (Sago) – which will spearhead the WHO’s hunt for the origins of the coronavirus and help do the same for future disease outbreaks.

“Frankly, the politics of this has taken on a life of its own and we want to bring it back to the science,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on Covid-19, said.

“We do expect those [research areas] to be pursued, we are working with our Chinese counterparts through technical collaborations and there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes discussions that are happening as well.”

Beijing last month rejected WHO proposals for the next phase of the investigation after it included further exploration of the theory the virus leaked from a lab.

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