China outlines coronavirus origin findings, ahead of long-awaited WHO report

Name: WHO ends Covid-19 mission in Wuhan, says lab leak ‘extremely unlikely’
Uploaded: 2021-03-26T21:27:26.000Z
Duration: 1 min 56 s
Description: WHO ends Covid-19 mission in Wuhan, says lab leak ‘extremely unlikely’

Chinese officials briefed diplomats from at least 50 countries on the research, amid questions from the US and others about the independence of the findings

Expert who led WHO’s China mission says the nearly 400-page report is finalised and could be released in ‘the next few days’

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A worker in protectively gear and carrying disinfecting equipment walks outside the Wuhan Central Hospital in February. Photo: AP

Associated Press

Published: 5:27am, 27 Mar 2021Updated: 5:33am, 27 Mar 2021

Chinese officials briefed diplomats on Friday on the ongoing research into the origin of Covid-19, ahead of the expected release of a long-awaited report from the World Health Organization.

The briefing appeared to be an attempt by China to get out its view on the report, which has become enmeshed in a diplomatic row. The US and others have raised questions about Chinese influence and the independence of the findings, and China has accused critics of politicising a scientific study.

“Our purpose is to show our openness and transparency,” said Yang Tao, a Foreign Ministry official. “China fought the epidemic in a transparent manner and has nothing to hide.”

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WHO ends Covid-19 mission in Wuhan, says lab leak ‘extremely unlikely’

The report, which has been delayed repeatedly, is based on a visit earlier this year by a WHO team of international experts to Wuhan, the city in central China where infections from a new coronavirus were first reported in late 2019.

The experts worked with Chinese counterparts, and both sides have to agree on the final report. It is unclear when it will come out.

Feng Zijian, a Chinese team member and the deputy director of China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said the experts examined four possible ways the virus got to Wuhan.

They are: a bat carrying the virus infected a human, a bat infected an intermediate mammal that spread it to a human, shipments of cold or frozen food, and a laboratory that research viruses in Wuhan.

The experts voted on the hypotheses after in-depth discussion and concluded one of the two animal routes or the cold chain was most likely how it was transmitted. A lab leak was viewed as extremely unlikely, Feng said.