2023-09-17 18:13:56
The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Europa Press)
The director of the World Health Organization (WHO) said he was willing to send a new mission of experts to China to find out the origin of Covid-19 and demanded “full access” in an interview with the Financial Times.
You may be interested in: New Chinese threat: 39 planes and an aircraft carrier were detected near the Taiwan Strait
“We urge China to give full access and ask countries to raise the issue in their bilateral meetings (to prompt Beijing) to cooperate,” declared Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
FILE PHOTO: Security personnel guard the outside of the Wuhan Institute of Virology (Archyde.com)
Tedros explained that the WHO has already asked China “in writing” to “give us information (…) and we are willing to send a team if they allow us.”
You may be interested in: Hacking, new technologies and “police stations”: how the Chinese regime spies on the West
The international community has not yet been able to determine with certainty the origin of Covid. Although, in principle, the first cases were detected at the end of 2019 in Wuhan (China), there are two opposing theories: a leak from a laboratory in the city where these viruses were studied, or that an animal infected people who frequented a market. local.
A team of specialists led by the WHO and accompanied by Chinese collaborators investigated the country in early 2021. The two most prominent theories contemplate either a zoonotic jump from animals to humans through the wet food markets of Wuhan, or a contagion derived from a leak from the city’s virology laboratory. But no scientific consensus has emerged from the debate, and Tedros reiterated that all options remained “on the table.”
You may be interested: While Xi Jinping asked for “more effort” from the Chinese Army, a new mystery arose in his cabinet: where is the Minister of Defense?
“Unless we get proof beyond a reasonable doubt, we can’t just say this or that,” he said. But he believes “we will get the answer. It’s a matter of time”.
Tedros later stated that “all hypotheses remain on the table.”
No team was able to return to China and WHO officials repeatedly demanded additional data. “If we know [el origen], we can prevent the next one. So it is science,” said the WHO director. “It won’t be morally right if we don’t know what happened,” he insisted.
This file photo taken on February 23, 2017 shows workers next to a cage with mice (right) at the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, capital of China’s Hubei province (AFP)
The director stated several times that the WHO has no intention of abandoning the investigation, and several times asked Beijing for “transparency when sharing data, carrying out the necessary research and sharing the results.”
Although there are still no answers for “all those who have paid for this pandemic,” Tedros said that the coronavirus crisis has made many governments realize the value of strengthening the resilience of their health systems.
“In many countries, health is not considered fundamental for development. In fact, health is considered a cost,” he stated. “And now [tras la pandemia] “I think people are starting to realize that it is actually an investment that can prevent pandemics from occurring.”
The WHO lifted the maximum alert level for the pandemic in March. Thanks to vaccines, immunity acquired following infection and better treatments, the virus is now much more controlled, although with the arrival of autumn, infections increase in the northern hemisphere and new variants appear.
The statements by the head of the WHO come as health authorities update vaccines following an increase in coronavirus cases. Although scientists agree that the world is no longer in the acute phase of the pandemic, the global health body said nations must increase surveillance of the highly mutated BA.2.86 and other Omicron subvariants.
World leaders will discuss pandemic preparedness for the first time at high-level meetings during the UN General Assembly in New York next week.
1694977410
#send #mission #China #investigate #true #origin #COVID19 #demanded #full #access
