The WHO wants countries to share their information about the origin of the coronavirus. The FBI estimates that the virus could have leaked from a Chinese laboratory.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged all countries on Friday to share their information about the origin of the coronavirus. The issue is reported, among other things, by a British newspaper The Guardian and the news agencies Reuters and AFP.
“If any country has information about the origin of the pandemic, it is essential that it be shared with WHO and the international scientific community,” Tedros said at a press conference.
Tedros made the statement after the head of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Christopher Wray said on Tuesday in an interview with the US news channel Fox News that, according to the FBI’s assessment, the coronavirus pandemic “most likely started from a potential laboratory accident in Wuhan”.
The coronavirus is believed to have originated in 2019 from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus research laboratory is located.
Read more: FBI director: The coronavirus probably originated from a leak in a Chinese laboratory
China has strongly denied the allegation and calls the FBI’s allegations a smear campaign against China.
Also The United States Department of Energy had given its assessment on Sunday that the coronavirus most likely started spreading due to a Chinese laboratory leak. However, the agency gave its assessment with “low confidence”.
Several other US government departments believe the virus evolved naturally.
According to Tedros, WHO has not given up on finding the origin of the virus and all options are still on the table.
The politicization of origin research has made scientific work more difficult, he said.
WHO head of the department investigating the origin of the coronavirus Maria Van Kerkhove said he had contacted the US delegation in Geneva for more information.
However, he has not yet received the information on the basis of which the US intelligence reports on the origin of the coronavirus were written.
Van Kerkhove urged everyone to share their information on the matter with the international community.
According to WHO data, more than 6.8 million people have died due to the coronavirus. The organization believes that the true number is much higher.
Read more: Science journal Nature: WHO is no longer trying to find out the origin of the coronavirus
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