WHO Leaned towards Coronavirus’ Animal Origin Version

The representative of the World Health Organization said there was no evidence that the causative agent of pneumonia COVID-19 was created in the laboratory. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggested that the new type of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is of animal origin. All the data so far known indicate that the virus was not created in the laboratory or in any similar way, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib stated in a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday, April 21. In all likelihood, the virus carrier was originally an animal, namely a bat, continued Chaib. However, it is not yet clear how exactly the virus crossed the species barrier and was transmitted to humans. The USA does not exclude the artificial origin of the virus Earlier, the American television channel Fox News, citing unnamed interlocutors reported that the first person infected with the new virus was an employee of the Virology laboratory Institute in the Chinese city of Wuhan. US President Donald Trump said Beijing should be held accountable if it turns out it “deliberately” hid SARS-CoV-2 data. Australia and Germany joined in calling for an independent study of the virus spread. In turn, China rejected assumptions about the alleged laboratory origin of the virus. The COVID-19 disease-causing coronavirus has entered 210 countries and territories since the outbreak in China at the end of 2019. More than 2.5 million inhabitants of the planet were detected with the virus, more than 170,000 people died from the disease consequences. The first place in the world in the number of infected and fatal outcomes belongs to the United States.