The WHO team probing into origins of Covid-19 has asserted that the virus is unlikely to have come either from a lab or from the wet market in Wuhan.<\/i><\/p>\n
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In a disappointing development that seems to get China completely off the hook in its suspected role in the coronavirus global pandemic, a team of international experts, including those from the World Health Organisation (WHO), investigating the origins of Covid-19 said yesterday that laboratory leak of the virus is “extremely unlikely” \u2013 even though it admitted that \u201caccidents do happen\u201d.<\/p>\n
Addressing a press conference at the end of the joint WHO-China study, more than a year after the initial cases of Covid-19 were reported from Wuhan in China’s western Hubei province, Peter Ben Embarek, the head of the WHO mission, said more work was required to identify the source of the virus.<\/p>\n
Liang Wannian, a member of the WHO-China joint study team, said that there is no evidence of transmission of the novel coronavirus before December 2019 in Wuhan.<\/p>\n
The experts did not even deny the possibility that novel coronavirus cases could have been prevalent in other regions even before the early cases were detected in Wuhan.<\/p>\n
Their research suggests that Wuhan could just be one of the first places where the virus spread.<\/p>\n
The “wet market” in Huanan which was linked to some of initial human cases was also one of the focus areas of the study.<\/p>\n
While it is possible that the virus may have jumped from animals to humans, the team investigating the origin of the virus said they do not have any proof.<\/p>\n
Bats and pangolins are thought to be possible sources of the virus, but conclusive evidence is still lacking.<\/p>\n
The WHO team also emphasised on studying the possibility of the transmission of the virus through imported frozen food, along with other possibilities.<\/p>\n
After the first cases of novel coronavirus emerged from Wuhan in December 2019, a theory circulated on social media that the virus may have leaked from a laboratory there.<\/p>\n
Former US President Donald Trump also made similar suggestions.<\/p>\n
In an open letter issued in February 2020, the Wuhan Institute of Virology said that assumptions were false rumours and the conscience of the staff in the institute was “absolutely clear”.<\/p>\n
The pandemic has so far killed over 2.3 million people worldwide and caused widespread economic and social disruptions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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