WHO Dismisses Lab Leak Virus Theory, Says 'No Indication of COVID-19 Spread in Wuhan Before December 2019'
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday said that there was not sufficient evidence that COVID-19 was spread in China's Wuhan before December 2019, The announcement was made in a joint press conference by the officials of WHO and Chinese expert mission probing the roots of coronavirus in Wuhan.
Beijing, February 9: The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday rejected the controversial lab leak virus theory. The WHO said that there was not sufficient evidence that COVID-19 was spread in China's Wuhan before December 2019, The announcement was made in a joint press conference by the officials of WHO and Chinese expert mission probing the roots of coronavirus in Wuhan. 1 Year Since Coronavirus Outbreak: First Case of COVID-19 Traced Back to November 17, 2019 in China's Hubei Province.
"There is no indication of the transmission of the Sars-Cov-2 in the population of the period before Dec 2019," reported AFP quoting Liang Wannian, head of the China team as saying. He further added that there was not enough evidence to determine that COVID-19 was spread in Wuhan prior to that. No Evidence That New Variant of Coronavirus More Deadly, Says WHO Official.
Ben Embarek, head of the WHO mission, said that it was unlikely that COVID-19 came from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Experts are of the opinion that the infection which was originated in bats could have been transmitted to human through another animal. New Variant of Coronavirus Detected in UK, Netherlands and Belgium Suspend Flights From Britain; All You Need to Know.
Last week, the WHO expert team visited a research centre in the Chinese city of Wuhan that has been the subject of speculation about the origins of the coronavirus. The visit to the laboratory was to gather data and search for clues as to where the virus originated and how it spread.
China has time and again strongly denied that possibility and promoted theories that the virus may have originated elsewhere or even been brought into the country from overseas with imports of frozen seafood tainted with the virus, a notion roundly rejected by international scientists and agencies. The first clusters of COVID-19 were detected in Wuhan in late 2019.
The total number of global coronavirus cases has topped 106.4 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 2.32 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Tuesday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload stood at 106,455,846 while the death toll reached 2,324,794.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 09, 2021 05:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).