The World Health Organization (WHO) seems to take a U-turn from its statement last year, dismissing the China's lab leak theory, after receiving an intense backlash for being submissive to Beijing. Its latest report suggested a further investigation into the theory and said that all hypotheses of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 should be kept on the table until more data is found.
An expert from the UN health agency said that "key pieces of data" that illustrates how the COVID-19 pandemic started are still missing and emphasized in conducting a comprehensive investigation into whether it was due to a leak from a research lab in Wuhan, China.
Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli is seen inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, capital of China's Hubei province, on February 23, 2017.
China's Coronavirus Lab Leak Theory Explained
In February 2021, WHO published a study saying that China's lab leak theory was "extremely unlikely." The statement was met with criticisms and has since become controversial. Some even speculated that China pressured WHO to come up with that result. So, what does this lab leak theory suggests?
According to an explainer article published in Nature, the China lab leak theory has not been completely ruled out as the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak despite many scientists believing it has a natural origin that came from animals and then transmitted to humans.
The theory suggests that the virus emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), located in the Chinese city, where the first cases of COVID-19 were first reported. Since this theory was released, several experts have called for a deeper investigation into the hypothesis, and even US President Joe Biden tasked the US Intelligence Community to investigate it.
Furthermore, some hypothesized that Chinese researchers might have collected SARS-CoV-2 from an animal and maintained it in their lab to study or create engineered coronavirus genomes. They believe that at this point, staff may have accidentally or deliberately infected the virus and spread it to others, ultimately causing a pandemic.
Many people also argued that it is suspicious that scientists could not find the closest relative of SARS-CoV-2 in an animal even after more than two years, suggesting that it was no coincidence for WIV to be in the first detected Wuhan case.
Another argument also contends that the virus contains unusual features and genetic consequences that signal it was engineered by humans. Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli from WIV, who spent almost two decades collecting more than 20,000 samples from bat colonies across the country, has come under fire as the world tries to understand the origins of COVID-19.
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China Calls SARS-CoV-2 Virus Originating From Wuhan Lab Leak Theory A Lie
According to AP News, China said the lab leak theory of the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic was a politically motivated lie. The comment comes after WHO recommended a deeper probe into the hypothesis in its strongest terms.
Zhao Lijian, China's foreign ministry spokesperson, rejected accusations that the country refused full cooperation with WHO investigators. He said that they welcomed the science-based probe but refused any political manipulation.
He also reiterated calls for investigating highly suspicious laboratories in the US that China suggested, without evidence, that were developing coronavirus as a bioweapon. Zhao also cited that China has made major contributions in virus tracing and sharing most data and research results, indicative of their openness, transparency, and responsible attitude.
WHO's recent report is a sharp reversal of their initial assessment of the origins of SARS-CoV-2, which was quick to dismiss the lab leak theory. It is important to note that it could take decades to pinpoint the source of the pandemic, as the search for the bat species was a natural reservoir for SARS.
UN's health agency also noted that lab accidents in the past have already triggered disease outbreaks, which makes the Wuhan lab leak theory not impossible.
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