The WHO, which calls on Beijing to join it in investigations into the origin of the new coronavirus, said on Friday that it was “natural origin“when the American president linked him to a Chinese laboratory.
Leaving Wuhan in China in December, the epidemic has infected more than 3.2 million people worldwide and killed at least 230,000, according to a report by the AFP.
“Regarding the origin of the virus in Wuhan, we have listened to many scientists who have studied this virus, and we are assured that this virus is of natural origin“said the director of emergency programs for the World Health Organization, Michael Ryan, when interviewed by a reporter.
“What is important is that we determine the natural host of this virus“, he continued, during a virtual press conference from the organization’s headquarters in Geneva.
►►► Read also : Already in January, “the world should have listened to WHO”, insists his boss
He explained that the “main goal is to ensure that we can understand the virus well, that we understand animal-to-human transmission and that we understand how the barrier between animal and human species was crossed“.
The objective of this study is “to put in place public health and preventive measures to prevent this from happening again anywhere“, he repeatedly insisted.
The WHO, which has so far praised Beijing for its handling of the crisis, on Friday called on the Chinese authorities to invite it to participate in the investigations “in progress or planned“on the animal origins of the virus.
The call comes as global health officials are severely criticized by the United States, which accuses WHO of delaying warning so as not to offend Beijing.
“No time wasted”
“We wereted no time“replied WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday, stressing that he had gone to China on January 28 to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and agree to the visit of an international team of scientists. .
“I remember people advised us not to go to China because we didn’t know how the virus behaved“he said, not having had”fear“to get there.
“This global health emergency, declared on January 30, was declared in a timely manner“said Mr. Tedros, supported by the chairman of the WHO emergency committee, Dr. Didier Houssin.
“Lucidity a posteriori, obviously it’s easy. It is much more difficult to know what is going to happen and to anticipate“, added the Frenchman, referring to criticisms made at the WHO.
►►► Read also : WHO calls on Beijing to “invite” to investigate the origins of the virus
The ad hoc emergency committee, which met for the third time on Thursday, determined that the pandemic remains “obviously“an international emergency,” said Tedros.
These 20 or so independent experts also made very general recommendations, not mentioning any country. They call for identifying the origin of the virus and assessing the balance between restrictions on air travel and their consequences, such as the difficulty of delivering humanitarian assistance.
–
