WHO Says All Hypotheses Still Open On Covid-19 Origins: 'We Haven't Yet Answered...'
The WHO said Covid-19's origins are inconclusive, with natural spillover and lab leak theories possible.
The World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledged that the origins of the Covid pandemic remain inconclusive saying that all hypotheses- including a natural spillover and a laboratory leak- are still on the table. The UN health agency reiterated that a lack of critical data, particularly from China, even four years after the initial outbreak of Covid-19 has hampered efforts to determine how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, first entered the human population. The pandemic has so far claimed an estimated 20 million lives globally.
'Until further requests for information are met, or more scientific data becomes available, the origins of SARS-CoV-2 and how it entered the human population will remain inconclusive," Marietjie Venter, chair of the WHO's Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), said.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while progress had been made in understanding the virus, determining its origin remained 'a moral imperative" for the millions who lost their lives. He said, 'Over the past five years, we have learned a lot about Covid-19 but there is one crucial question about the pandemic that we have not yet answered: how it started."
China Has Not Shared Data, WHO Director Reveals
The WHO Director revealed that despite repeated requests, China had not shared hundreds of viral sequences from early Covid-19 cases or provided full data on animals sold in Wuhan's wet markets or research conducted at virology labs in the area. He said, 'WHO is also aware of intelligence reports performed by other governments around the world on the origins of Covid-19. We have also requested access to those reports."
'We continue to urge China to share the data that we requested, and to support further studies to investigate the origins of Covid-19," Tedros said.
Lab Leak Theory Not Ruled Out
The first WHO-led team visited Wuhan in early 2021 and concluded in a joint report with Chinese counterparts that the virus most likely spread from bats to humans via an intermediate animal host. Marietjie Venter said that key data needed to assess the lab leak theory had not been made available and thus 'it could not be investigated or excluded."
Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated!
First Published:
June 27, 2025, 22:28 IST
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Active Covid cases halve in a week; recent surge in Maha waning: Docs
Pune: Maharashtra is seeing a significant decline in daily Covid infections and active cases, with health experts suggesting that the recent surge appears to be waning. The health department's data revealed an encouraging trend—new cases have fallen consistently over the past week. Maharashtra, which was recording an average of 80-100 new cases daily until recently, has seen the number drop under 40 in the last few days. A health official said, "On Thursday, we had only 24 new Covid cases in the state. This further dropped to 13 on Friday. The trajectory certainly has been going down." Active Covid cases have decreased from 340 on June 20 to 148 on June 27—a decline of nearly 56% in just seven days. You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai Infectious disease experts are reporting that the recent surge has been characterised by predominantly mild symptoms, with minimal cases requiring oxygen support or intensive care intervention. Health department officials said the absence of severe complications like hypoxia in many recent cases suggested that the variant in circulation "has been largely mild". Dr Rahul Pandit, chair of critical care at Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital, Girgaum, said, "Even when the surge began, I had no ICU Covid admissions. Most patients were coming with just upper respiratory tract infections. The Omicron wave a few years ago was really rapid and more severe than the surge caused by the ongoing Omicron variants. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Treatment That Might Help You Against Knee Pain Knee pain | search ads Find Now Undo The latter showed slower spread and much milder illness." Another infectious disease expert, Dr Ameet Dravid, too, said most cases he has seen in recent days were of upper respiratory tract infections. "Covid cases have come down significantly. We used to get 10-15 admissions a week. Now, we have hardly three to four." Other doctors also reported a drop in patient admissions. Dr Pradeep D'Costa, head of department, ICU and consultant-intensive care, KEM Hospital, Pune, said, "Last week, we had around five to six patients. Now, there are none. One person had moderate illness and another had risk factors such as obesity and diabetes. All have recovered. It looks like the latest surge is subsiding. But we should wait for a few days before confirming that. "
The Hindu
4 hours ago
- The Hindu
No time to rest: on India's ranking and the Sustainable Development Report
India has been ranked among the top 100 countries in the Sustainable Development Report for the first time since this data began to be published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) since 2016. The SDSN is an independent body under the aegis of the UN, whose publications are tracked by policymakers and governments. In 2016, India was ranked 110th out of 157 countries, making steady progress to reach 99 this year out of an expanded basket of 167 nations with better metrics and more granular comparisons. But it is no time to rest on this laurel. India must look at why this incline, by 11 points, was not achieved any sooner and the gaps to focus on. From a developmental perspective, the SDSN ranks India as having fared better in poverty reduction (SDG 1) even as India's poverty estimation continues to be mired in controversy due to a lack of publicly available consumption expenditure data since 2018 and the poverty line (Rangarajan line ~₹33/day rural, ₹47/day urban) not having been updated. Proxy data suggest a considerable poverty reduction, almost halving between 2012 (22% based on NSSO data) and 2023 (World Bank – 12%). But SDG 2 (zero hunger) has remained a cause for concern. It also reveals the wide disparity between income groups and rural and urban areas on access to a nutritious diet. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) estimates that over a third of Indians (35.5%) were stunted (NFHS-5, 2019-21), only marginally better than 38.4% (NFHS-4, 2015-16). Similarly, wasting, which is low weight for height, reduced from 21.0% to 19.3%. Obesity in the working age population (15-49 years) has almost doubled between 2006 and 2021, and concentrated in wealthier urban areas. Electricity access (SDG 7) is another indicator where India has done well. While the country has achieved near universal household electrification in the past two decades, the quality of power and duration vary vastly based on regions and urban/rural fault lines. It is, however, laudable that India today ranks as the fourth largest renewables capacity deployer, mainly solar and wind. And while India has bettered its score in infrastructure provision (SDG 9), noteworthy additions being rapid mobile penetration and financial inclusion through UPI-linked digital payments gateways, COVID-19 revealed the stark difference between rural and urban Internet penetration, which must be addressed to achieve even higher educational outcomes (SDG 4). It is telling, however, that throughout the Modi years, India's performance in governance, the rule of law, press freedom and strong and independent institutions (SDG 16) has been lagging.
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Mizoram logs 1 Covid positive case
Aizawl: The state health & family welfare department on Friday confirmed that one individual has been found to be infected with the Covid-19 virus. Officials of the integrated disease surveillance programme (IDSP) said while total number of infected people in the state stood at 3, 2 of them have already been cured. The officials said samples of 8 individuals, who were suspected to have been infected with the virus, had been tested over the past 24 hours, of which 1 person from Aizawl district was found to be positive. The officials further said that while 73 persons had tested Covid positive last year, no further cases were registered between October and mid-May this year. During the Covid-19 pandemic years (March 2020-October 2024), 734 people died in Mizoram (the largest number at 538 people during 2021). Since early 2020, at least 19,97,641 samples have been tested till Friday of which 2,39,638 have been found to be infected with the corona virus with 2,38,903 people discharged and 734 fatalities in the state.
