The World Health Organisation (WHO) is considering a new mission to seek the source of the coronavirus in China as the country on Friday said it supported a review led by the UN agnecy into the global response to the pandemic, but after it retreats.
China has been facing increasing pressure in recent weeks to allow an investigation to understand the origins of the virus. China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the time for the investigation should be at an “appropriate time after the pandemic is over”.
Maria Van Kerkhove, a WHO epidemiologist, said, “Without knowing where the animal origin is, it’s hard to prevent it from happening again.”
China has stressed that the investigation should be based on the International Health Regulations, and be authorised by the World Health Assembly or Executive Committee—WHO’s dual governing bodies.
Previously, when other nations called for an investigation into the origin of the virus, China rejected it and blamed the US for “politicising the issue”.
As recently as Thursday, US Secretary-General Mike Pompeo maintained that he has evidence that the virus originated in a lab in China and they still are withholding crucial information about patient zero.
Van Kherkove participated in a mission to China in February that concluded that the virus originated in an animal and that bats were a reservoir for the virus. But an intermediate host could not be determined.
US President Donald Trump, in April, accused the WHO of being deferential towards China and even cut off US funding towards the organisation. Trump, on Thursday, said that the virus should have been stopped at the source. “Could've been stopped in China. It should’ve been stopped right at the source. And it wasn’t,” he added.
European nations and Australia, too, have called for investigations to be made in China regarding the origin of the virus.
