The World Health Organization's Chinese lead released initial details of its fact-finding mission into the origins of COVID-19. Early data from unpublished studies propose that the novel coronavirus could have been circulating for weeks outside the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus was first detected.
Possibility of the Missed Reported Circulation
Dr. Liang Wannian, the Chinese leader of the international team, which includes the WHO, stated this entails the probability of the missed reported circulation in other regions.
The WHO has concluded it is "extremely unlikely" that the coronavirus first spread from a Chinese laboratory leak and that no further work is necessary to probe into this theory.
The organization stated its ongoing investigation into the origins of Sars-CoV-2 had unveiled new data but not significantly changed the picture of the pandemic in Wuhan.
According to Dr. Peter Ben Embarek, leader of the WHO investigation, "The findings suggest lab incident hypothesis is extremely unlikely to explain the introduction of the virus into the human population," reported Independent.
A 12-day probing by the WHO team has unveiled little news regarding the origins of COVID-19 that ignited a devastating pandemic.
In a news conference on Tuesday in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the chiefs of the Chinese and WHO delegations stated they were unable to conclude whether the virus had been transmitted directly from animal to human or via an intermediary host.
According to the international team of scientists led by the WHO on Tuesday, the search for how COVID-19 was first introduced remains a "work in progress," with further research required into how and whether the respiratory illness circulated in animals before being contracted by humans.
Scientists have been working in Wuhan for the past four weeks as part of their investigation for clues to the COVID-19 pandemic's origins, reported CNBC.
The joint mission investigating the origins of the pandemic indicated it is "extremely unlikely" COVID-19 originated from a laboratory incident in China.
Investigators think the most likely cause of the first outbreak was the virus being transmitted from an "intermediary host species" to humans.
As they revealed their findings at a Chinese press conference, WHO investigators have dismissed the lab leak theory as "extremely unlikely."
WHO scientists were present along with their Chinese counterparts as they also confirmed they have ruled out the Wuhan wet market as the initial origin of COVID-19.
The WHO mission to China to investigate the origins of the virus has failed to identify the animal source.
Experts believe the respiratory illness, which has recorded over 2.3 million people fatalities across the globe, originated in bats and could have been spread to humans through another mammal.
According to the WHO food safety and animal diseases expert Embarek, "Our initial findings suggest that the introduction through an intermediary host species is the most likely pathway and one that will require more studies and more specific, targeted research," reported Fox News.
On January 14, the team arrived in Wuhan and, following two weeks of quarantine, visited key sites, including the Huanan seafood market, which was linked to an early cluster of infections, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
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