China investigation: WHO report says Covid lab origin ‘extremely unlikely’ – Study in full

China: Former CDC director says virus ‘escaped’ from lab

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A long-awaited report on the origins of coronavirus has finally concluded and debunks conspiracy theories that coronavirus came from a lab in China. Investigations into the origins of coronavirus began in January 2021, with the WHO leading the probe in China, a year after coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province, in December 2019.

What’s in the report?

The report has found no evidence that the virus was created in a lab, as a number of theories presented over the past year have circulated.

The document reads: “Although rare, laboratory accidents do happen, and different laboratories around the world are working with bat [coronaviruses].

“When working in particular with virus cultures, but also with animal inoculations or clinical samples, humans could become infected in laboratories with limited biosafety, poor laboratory management practice, or following negligence.”

The report then adds: “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 [Wuhan] laboratory is extremely low”.

“The Wuhan CDC lab which moved on December 2 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 authors explore other possibilities for the origins of Covid-19, but has not reached a definitive conclusion – a process that could take years to complete if possible.

The report has found the virus was most likely passed from bats via an “intermediate animal host”, then onto humans.

The document reads: “The joint team’s assessment of likelihood of each possible pathway was as follows.

“Direct zoonotic spillover is considered to be a possible-to-likely pathway; introduction through an intermediate host is considered to be a likely to very likely pathway; introduction through cold/ food chain products is considered a possible pathway; introduction through a laboratory incident was considered to be an extremely unlikely pathway.”

A team of 34 scientists, including scientists appointed by the Chinese Government, took part in the research.

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The authors have called for further investigation into the origin of the virus.

Some critics have pointed out the team’s heavy reliance on data from the Chinese Government for the conclusions

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said prior to the report being seen: “We’ve got real concerns about the methodology and the process that went into that report, including the fact that the government in Beijing apparently helped to write it.”

China rejected that criticism, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian responding: “The US has been speaking out on the report.

“By doing this, isn’t the US trying to exert political pressure on the members of the WHO expert group?

“When will [the US] invite WHO experts to visit the US and to conduct work to trace the source?

“When will it open the Fort Detrick [laboratory] for international experts to tour?”

Efforts to understand COVID-19’s origin have not been without roadblocks.

China has previously refused to give raw data on the country’s early COVID-19 cases to the team, one investigator said earlier this year.

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