Investigation into the origins of Covid-19 in Wuhan

APF

Six weeks after the fact-finding mission of international experts in Wuhan on the origins of Covid-19, no official report has yet been published. The Chinese authorities must give their approval before the document is made public. Several explanations for the delay have been put forward: the former head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield, is once again raising the possibility that the virus leaked from a Chinese laboratory.

It has been almost two months since the committee of international experts convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) was sent to Wuhan, China, to investigate the origins of SARS-CoV-2. Six weeks after the investigation, the report is still pending.

In practice, Tedros Adhanom, director-general of the WHO had promised an expert report of several hundred pages, which was to be published the week of March 15. The promise was made on March 5, and at the end of the month, no document has yet been presented. The reason: the discussions between the Chinese experts and the delegation sent by the WHO: "The Chinese experts received the English version of the report on March 17, the Chinese government spokesman announced on social networks on March 19 precisely. The release of the report next week depends on the discussions between Chinese and international experts." It remains to be seen why international experts and Chinese authorities are having trouble finding a consensus.

This Friday, March 26, the former head of the main federal public health agency in the United States, Robert Redfield, clearly stepped up to the plate, claiming in his opinion that Covid-19 came directly from a laboratory in Wuhan. "I still think the most likely etiology of this pathogen in Wuhan is a laboratory from which it escaped," the former U.S. official believes, adding that this is only his "opinion."

"If I had to make a hypothesis, this virus began to spread around September-October in Wuhan, China," continued Robert Redfield. The American bases his hypothesis, among other things, on the fact that it is "not unusual" that in structures charged with studying diseases, employees can themselves be contaminated. The hypothesis of a virus coming out of a Chinese laboratory had been shared by the former administration of Donald Trump, among others. The head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was cautious about this track, and said that until this report is published "all hypotheses remain on the table.

The report of the international experts must indeed be validated by China and by the international experts who travelled to Wuhan before being published. What delays its validation is above all the language barrier, as explained by the Beijing authorities, who wish to translate this text. As a result, the publication of this report has again been delayed by "several weeks", says the WHO.

However, the question of an agreement before publication on the part of China is still being discussed: "The current political environment is extraordinarily difficult in China to conduct such a mission. It is almost impossible to produce a truly independent report", says Sara Davis, researcher at the Institute's Global Health Centre, in the columns of Le Temps.

For other scientific experts, the fact-finding mission organized by the WHO was far too short to unearth any scientific truth. The fact remains that in this mission, the WHO has put its image at stake: "The WHO has pushed for this mission to take place. If now the document does not bring anything substantial, it will suffer image damage, says an expert, also in the columns of Le Temps. If the report reveals incriminating, even explosive facts, it will be better for the WHO. For China, on the other hand, it will have to keep its head down. But it will suffer even more damage if it locks everything up for lack of transparency.

Source: AFP