The U.S. and several other countries on Tuesday raised concerns over the World Health Organization's study on the origin of the coronavirus. "The mission of the WHO is critical to advancing global health and health security, and we fully support its experts and staff and recognize their tireless work to bring an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, including understanding how the pandemic started and spread," the joint statement said. "With such an important mandate, it is equally essential that we voice our shared concerns that the international expert study on the source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples."WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday said the team of international experts tasked with traveling to Wuhan, Chinan, to study possible origins reported having issues with data access."In my discussions with the team, they expressed the difficulties they encountered in accessing raw data," he said at a meeting with member states. "I expect future collaborative studies to include more timely and comprehensive data sharing."Tedros added that "to understand the earliest cases, scientists would benefit from full access to data including biological samples from at least September 2019."Some have raised concerns about the level of cooperation WHO has received from China, while the organization has mostly avoided criticizing the country. It did issue a rare pushback in early January after Chinese officials did not give the team the necessary clearance to visit the country for its mission – an issue that was later resolved. The study, which was published on Tuesday, detailed four possible routes of introduction of the virus to humans: transmission directly from an animal source, transmission from an infected intermediate animal host, spread through cold food chain products or introduction through a laboratory accident. The intermediate animal host theory is "likely to very likely" a pathway, according to the study, while the lab theory is an "extremely unlikely pathway."The joint statement from the countries called for "a renewed commitment by WHO and all Member States to access, transparency and timeliness.""It is critical for independent experts to have full access to all pertinent human, animal, and environmental data, research, and personnel involved in the early stages of the outbreak relevant to determining how this pandemic emerged," it said. "With all data in hand, the international community may independently assess COVID-19 origins, learn valuable lessons from this pandemic, and prevent future devastating consequences from outbreaks of disease."The statement was issued by over a dozen governments: the U.S., Australia, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Slovenia and the United Kingdom.
U.S., U.K., Canada and Others Express Concerns Over WHO Study on COVID-19 Origins
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