A scientist who led the World Health Organization’s Chinese team in investigating the origin of the coronavirus said the WHO would provide the theory that the pandemic originated in a laboratory in Wuhan when the United Nations health agency published a report. in the coming weeks.
Liang Wannian, who led the Chinese side of the WHO-China joint team, said experts had reached a consensus on the beginnings of the new coronavirus.
While many questions about the disease remain unanswered, Liang said the first case was registered on December 8, 2019, and the Huanan food market played a role in allowing it to spread, but experts agree that the virus is ” natural origin ”. ”
“The most likely route of transmission was from the natural host to the intermediate host and then to humans,” he told the Chinese Communist Party-controlled Global Times in an interview published on Wednesday.
“It is extremely unlikely that the outbreak was caused by a laboratory leak,” he said.
No future review will be “focused on this area unless there is new evidence,” Liang said.
He said experts from 10 countries visited hospitals, the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Huanan Seafood Market and spoke with medical and laboratory staff, scientific researchers, managers, community workers, people who have recovered from the disease and members. family health care. suppliers who died fighting the pandemic.