WHO

suspends investigation into the origin of coronaviruscooperate with the organization's experts

The World Health Organization (WHO) has postponed the second phase of its investigation into the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus due to difficulties in conducting research in China, according to the journal Nature.

The first stage was held in January 2021, when a group of experts went to Wuhan, China. Upon their return, they presented four versions of the appearance of SARS-CoV-2, the most likely of which, according to experts, was the version of the transmission of coronavirus to humans from bats through an intermediary animal. The possibility of the virus leaking out of the laboratory was called "highly unlikely" by the WHO.

This phase was to lay the groundwork for a second phase of in-depth studies to determine exactly "what happened in China and elsewhere," Nature writes. However, now, WHO expert Maria van Kerkhove told the magazine, this is out of the question, and the plan for a phased investigation has changed. “Political events around the world are really hindering progress in understanding the origins [of the virus],” she said.

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WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus continues to liaise with Chinese officials to “encourage Beijing to be more open and share data,” van Kerkhove said, and WHO officials are trying to work with the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We really, really want to be able to work there with our colleagues,” she said, noting that the actions of the Chinese authorities are “deeply disappointing.”

Experts are disappointed that the investigation has stalled, as new data on the origin of the virus would help prevent future outbreaks. According to virologist Angela Rasmussen at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, without access to China , experts can do little, "they really have their hands tied."

In the summer of 2021, the Chinese authorities announced that they would not cooperate with the WHO on the second stage of the investigation. This happened after Ghebreyesus urged not to exclude the version of the artificial origin of the virus and announced the organization's plans to check the laboratories in Wuhan. Beijing has rejected theories that the virus leaked from a lab and denied that the authorities covered up data about the pandemic and the ability of the virus to spread from person to person. The country's Foreign Ministry said that the pandemic was caused by individual outbreaks in different places around the world.

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The origin of the coronavirus was also investigated in the USA , Great Britain and other countries.