The White House said Saturday (Feb. 13) that the United States is “deeply concerned” about the World health Organization’s report on the virus investigation and called on China to release data on the early stages of the outbreak.
In a statement, White House national security adviser Sullivan said it was crucial that the report be “independent and free from manipulation by the Chinese government”.
The White House statement comes after a WHO panel said Tuesday in Wuhan that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was most likely transmitted to humans through an animal intermediate host, but was highly unlikely to have escaped from a laboratory. Observers say this statement is almost an endorsement of the Chinese authorities and has been questioned and criticized by many.
Recently, WHO experts gradually revealed that the Chinese side refused to provide the WHO panel with data on early patients and the outbreak in Wuhan, and there were several heated arguments between the two sides.
Scientists participating in the investigation said they had a heated argument with Chinese personnel over access to such patient files and related issues, with both sides even shouting several times, according to the New York Times.
Experts said the Chinese side’s refusal to provide early information on the outbreak made it difficult for WHO experts to find clues that could help prevent another outbreak of a similarly dangerous virus in the future.
Thea Kølsen Fischer, a Danish epidemiologist and member of the WHO panel, said Friday that “if you are concerned about the data, if you are a professional,” then getting the data information “is like a clinician knowing the patient and having to see them with their own eyes.”
Fourteen WHO experts were in China for 27 days between January and February to trace the origin of the new coronavirus. Several of them said their Chinese counterparts were overwhelmed by the WHO panel’s insistent efforts to demand relevant data.
Chinese officials urged the WHO experts to accept the unsubstantiated claim by Chinese officials that the virus may have come from outside China. The WHO experts responded to the Chinese side by saying they would not make such a judgment without the data.
“My understanding is that the mission of this investigation has been highly geopoliticized,” Fisher said, “and everyone knows how much pressure China is under to open up the investigation and how much censure that will generate.”
In the end, it was WHO experts who again compromised by praising the Chinese government for its transparency while pushing for more investigations into the early stages of the outbreak in Wuhan in late 2019.
Whether this strategy by WHO experts has been successful is unclear, according to the New York Times. Chinese officials told them that there has not been enough Time on the Chinese side to compile data on the early patients and were only able to provide some summary information. The WHO experts said they continued to ask their Chinese counterparts for raw data and other relevant information.
The panelists believe the mission was rewarding, that the Chinese side made them feel there was some goodwill, and that the dialogue and research will continue. However, they also acknowledged that too little information on key issues has been obtained so far.
The investigation ends this week.
In a statement released Saturday, the White House noted that President Biden abandoned former President Trump‘s decision to withdraw from the WHO to return to the important international organization in the hope that it would do its best to control “viral pandemics and advance global health and health security.
The White House statement also urged China to release data from the initial stages of the outbreak.
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