A week after the World Health Organization (WHO) released its investigation into the origin of the virus, an international group of scientists and researchers said Wednesday (April 7) that a joint WHO and Chinese study of COVID-19 did not provide reliable answers about how the pandemic began, that a more rigorous investigation is needed, and that Beijing’s involvement in the new investigation is irrelevant.
A week after the World Health Organization (WHO) released its report on its investigation into the origin of the virus, an international group of scientists and researchers said Wednesday (April 7) that the joint WHO and Chinese study of COVID-19 did not provide reliable answers about how the pandemic began, that a more rigorous investigation is needed, and that Beijing’s involvement in the new investigation is irrelevant.
Last week, the WHO mission concluded in its final report that the possibility of the virus leaking from the Wuhan laboratory was defined as “highly unlikely”; that it was “very likely” that the virus was transmitted from bats to humans via another animal; and that the virus was transmitted directly from bats to humans or through frozen food. The possibility of the virus being transmitted directly from bats to humans or through frozen food is somewhere in the middle.
On Wednesday, 24 scientists and researchers from Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan said in an open letter that the WHO study was tainted by politics.
Jamie Metzl, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, drafted the letter. He said, “They (WHO) set out to give us as much compromise as possible in order to get some minimal cooperation from China.”
The letter said the study’s conclusions were based on unpublished Chinese research, and that key records and biological samples “remain unavailable.”
A WHO team investigator has previously said that the Chinese Communist Party’s refusal to provide the mission with raw data on early COVID-19 cases during the Chinese investigation could complicate efforts to understand how COVID-19 began. WHO Director-General Tan Desai also said last week that the Chinese Communist Party was withholding data.
“In my discussions with the team, they indicated difficulties in accessing the raw data,” Tandse said, “and I hope that future collaborative studies will include more timely and comprehensive data sharing.”
Liang Wannian, a senior Chinese Communist Party expert on COVID-19 and the Chinese head of the WHO investigation, denied the allegations and ruled out any further joint investigation in China, saying the focus of the investigation should shift to other countries.
Metz said that without Chinese involvement, the world might have to “revert to Plan B” and conduct the investigation “in the most systematic way possible.
The Chinese Communist Party also denied allegations that the virus first found in Wuhan was leaked from the Wuhan Virus Institute laboratory.
Metz said the Chinese side should disclose information that refutes the hypothesis of a lab leak. He said China has a database of viruses …… as well as records of lab work.
“There are actually a variety of (Chinese) scientists working on this, and we have no access to any of that information or access to any of them.” He said.
Robert Redfield, the CDC director under former President Trump, told CNN March 26 that he believes the virus leaked from the Wuhan lab, but that the leak was not necessarily intentional.
As a virologist, Redfield questioned the notion that the virus was passed from animal to human, saying it made no sense biologically that the virus could be passed from animal to human and spread so well from human to human.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week, “The report is missing critical data, information and access. It presents a partial and incomplete picture.” She said, “We believe there should be a second phase to this (investigation) process, and it should be led by international and independent experts. They should have unrestricted access to the data. They should be able to ask questions of people who are on the ground, and that’s a step that WHO can take.”
Psaki said U.S. medical experts are still reviewing the report, but the White House believes it “does not meet the requirements for now.”
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