HEALTH
WHO to release findings of Covid-19 investigation
February 8, 2021 - The main findings of a World Health Organization-sponsored investigation in China to identify the zoonotic source of the coronavirus and its route to the human population will be released on or before February 10.
Peter Daszak, a New York-based zoologist assisting the WHO mission, said he anticipates the main findings will be released before his planned Feb. 10 departure from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where Covid-19 mushroomed in December 2019. Daszak said the 14-member group worked with experts in China and visited key hot spots and research centres to uncover “some real clues about what happened”, according to Bloomberg News.
Investigators want to know how the SARS-CoV-2 virus – whose closest known relative came from bats 1,600km (1,000 miles) away – spread explosively in Wuhan before causing the worst contagion in more than a century. Daszak said the investigation heralds a turning point in pandemic mitigation.
- China granted WHO team full access in Wuhan (AP)
- Wuhan investigator foreshadows fresh clues on coronavirus origins (Bloomberg)
- WHO team in Wuhan hold “good discussions” with Chinese counterparts (Reuters)
- WHO team, on tightly controlled China mission, visits hospital (Reuters)
- WHO team probing Covid-19 visits Wuhan lab, meets “Bat Woman” (Reuters)