COVID studies should be scientific
Print Edition
CHINA hopes that the World Health Organization will genuinely treat the coronavirus origin-tracing work as a scientific issue, get rid of political interference, and actively and prudently promote the tracing work to be carried out continuously in multiple countries and regions around the globe, a senior official of the National Health Commission said yesterday.
What has been carried out in the first stage of origin tracing, especially those that have reached a clear conclusion, should not be repeated, said Zeng Yixin, deputy head of the NHC, at a press conference on the coronavirus origin-tracing work held by the State Council Information Office in Beijing.
What should be carried out is the origin tracing of early cases, molecular epidemiology and intermediary hosts in multiple countries and regions on the basis of extensive consultations among WHO member states, Zeng said.
A WHO team comprising international experts arrived in Wuhan on January 14. They formed a joint body with Chinese experts for the Chinese part of the global study on the origins of the coronavirus, he said.
The team studied a massive amount of epidemic-related data and visited nine facilities, including Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, Huanan seafood market, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The team conducted extensive exchanges with local medical workers, lab researchers, scientists, and market managers. They also interviewed social workers, community workers, residents, and patients who had recovered, said Zeng.
The joint study said that a laboratory incident is “extremely unlikely” as the cause of COVID-19 and introduction through an intermediary host species is “the most likely” passway.
Zeng said he was surprised to hear that some people have claimed the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, escaped from the WIV. The claim is disrespectful to common sense, and goes against science, he said.
He noted that it is widely accepted by genetic engineers that the artificial modification of a virus will definitely leave traces. Novel coronavirus has no such trace, which totally rules out the theory that it was man-made.
Up to now, none of the WIV staff members have been infected by the novel coronavirus, the lab has not carried out the gain-of-function experiment on the pathogen, and there is no so-called artificial novel coronavirus in the WIV, he reiterated.
If any country needs further study on laboratory-related sources, Chinese experts suggest it go to nations that have labs similar to the one in Wuhan which haven’t been investigated, to learn more about possible leakage problems, said Liang Wannian, the team leader from the Chinese side of the joint group.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China and the international community have every reason to raise doubts about Fort Detrick and urged the WHO to investigate the US lab on the origins of the coronavirus.
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