Covid-19: WHO urges more investigation into Chinese Wuhan 'lab-leak' theory
The World Health Organization is recommending more investigation into the theory that Covid-19 leaked from a Chinese laboratory, something once dismissed by
The World Health Organization is recommending more investigation into the theory that Covid-19 leaked from a Chinese laboratory, something once dismissed by some as a conspiracy theory but since taken seriously by some experts and officials.
Thursday’s report marks a shift for the WHO. To investigate Covid’s origins it commissioned an international group of experts who, working alongside Chinese health officials, published a study in February 2021 saying the lab-leak theory was “extremely unlikely.”
But the report was controversial from the start, and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing three days later that nothing had been ruled out, and that “all hypotheses remain open and require further analysis.”
After months of criticism, Tedros said in July that it had been “premature” to rule out the idea because “I have worked in the lab, and lab accidents happen.”
On Friday, Beijing responded forcefully to the recent WHO report, and repeated its suggestion — without evidence — that the virus may have come from an American laboratory.
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