WHO Investigation Reportedly Finds Theory of Wuhan Lab Leak ‘Extremely Unlikely’ for Coronavirus Origin
The World Health Organization is set to release its final report soon on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, and they have reportedly concluded that the Wuhan lab-leak theory is “extremely unlikely.”
The Telegraph reports that they obtained a copy of the documents compiled by the WHO’s scientific team and sent out to all member nations. The reported determination is that it is “possible” the virus escaped from a laboratory, but the more likely explanation is that the virus emerged from a zoonotic spillover event where it was transmitted from bats to humans.
The report, according to The Telegraph, describes laboratory infection accidents as a “rare” event that occurs in facilities subject to negligence, poor management, and limited biosafety. It also states that the three laboratories that were investigated in Wuhan “all had high quality biosafety level facilities” and “no serological evidence of infection in workers through Sars-CoV-2-specific serology-screening.”
“There is no record of viruses closely related to Sars-CoV-2 in any laboratory before December 2019, or genomes that in combination could provide a Sars-CoV-2 genome… and therefore the risk of accidental culturing Sars-CoV-2 in the laboratory is extremely low,” the report says. “The Wuhan CDC lab which moved on 2 December 2019 reported no disruptions or incidents caused by the move. They also reported no storage nor laboratory activities on CoVs or other bat viruses preceding the outbreak.”
The Telegraph reports that the WHO’s assessment goes on to say it is “extremely unlikely” that the virus originated from an accident with an infected laboratory staff member. The WHO report also provides a list of pros and cons for some of the other most prevalent arguments for how Covid emerged.
The Telegraph notes that the WHO report does not provide a “smoking gun,” plus it is likely to be criticized for their heavy reliance on Chinese data. China, of course, has been criticized for their lack of transparency throughout the global pandemic, and the WHO has been criticized as well for echoing disinformation from the Chinese government.
The theory that the coronavirus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology has been one of the most recurring questions of the pandemic. Former CDC Director Robert Redfield recently expressed his agreement with the theory, though Dr. Anthony Fauci has argued against the idea.
CBS’ Lesley Stahl interviewed Peter Daszak, a member of the WHO team, for 60 Minutes, and she scrutinized his team for “just taking [China’s] word” on the matter. Stahl also spoke to Jamie Metzl, who panned the WHO’s investigation for acquiescing to China’s terms and conditions.
