WHO will resume the investigation of the virus SARS-CoV-2 origin

The WHO statement says that by analyzing the report on the first phase of the investigation, the organization concluded that there was insufficient "scientific justification to exclude any of the hypotheses." The World Health Organization (WHO) is preparing to a second series of studies to determine the cause of the coronavirus pandemic. The WHO press service noted this in a statement on Thursday, August 12. "Finding the sources of any new pathogen is a complex science-based process that requires collaboration, dedication and time," the document says. At the same time, WHO notes that the search for the sources of the SARS-CoV-2 virus "is not and should not be an exercise in attributing blame, pointing a finger at someone or scoring political points." "Countries have a collective responsibility to work together in a true spirit of partnership and to ensure that scientists and experts have the space they need to find the origins of the worst pandemic in the century," the statement said. Data access is critical WHO notes that China and several other countries have sent a letter to the organization's management regarding further research on the "laboratory hypothesis" of the SARS-CoV-2 origin. "They suggested that the study of the origins of the pandemic was politicized or that WHO was acting under political pressure," the organization said. WHO explains that by analyzing the report on the first phase of the investigation, the organization concluded that there was insufficient "scientific justification to exclude any of the hypotheses." In particular, to test the "laboratory hypothesis" of the coronavirus origin, it is important to have all data access. " Data access is critical to the development of our understanding of science and should not be politicized in any way," the document emphasizes. The second phase of the investigation of the pandemic origin "will include further development of baseline data on the earliest known cases of the disease and screening of blood samples from possible earliest cases in 2019." In particular, WHO facilitated the independent verification by international laboratories of blood samples taken in Italy prior to the outbreak in that country. WHO called on all countries, including China, “to put aside differences and work together to provide all the necessary data and access so that the next series of studies can begin as soon as possible” and “move quickly and efficiently along the coronavirus ". China is not ready to open doors for WHO The first known source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread is the Chinese city of Wuhan. However, the reason for its occurrence is still unclear. One hypothesis is that the virus may have escaped from an accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is researching coronaviruses. The Chinese government strongly denies this. The WHO group of international experts visited Wuhan only in January 2021 - more than a year after the first reports of the virus detection. The prepared report was published at the end of March, but did not give unambiguous results. WHO experts classified the "laboratory hypothesis" of the virus origin as "extremely unlikely." At the same time, the United Kingdom and the United States were extremely critical of the published findings of the commission, saying that China deliberately denied experts access to data and samples. Later, the head of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at the G7 summit, said that he did not rule out a "laboratory hypothesis", and that China should help in investigating the source of the virus. In July 2021, Beijing abandoned the WHO plan for a second phase of study of the COVID-19 origins in China. Zeng Yixin, deputy head of the State Health Committee of the People's Republic of China, in particular, told reporters that the WHO proposal contains "language that does not respect science," and that Beijing does not agree with this plan. According to the international resource Worldometer, since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 206 million people have already become infected with coronavirus infection in the world. More than 4.3 million people have died from the consequences of the pulmonary disease COVID-19 caused by it.