Investigations into the origin of COVID-19

rdf:langString Investigations into the origin of COVID-19

rdf:langString There are several ongoing efforts by scientists, governments, international organisations, and others to determine the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Most scientists say that as with other pandemics in human history, the virus is likely of zoonotic origin in a natural setting, and ultimately originated from a bat-borne virus. Many other explanations, including several conspiracy theories, have been proposed about the origins of the virus. Some scientists and politicians have speculated that SARS-CoV-2 was accidentally released from a laboratory, but this theory is considered much less likely than a natural origin due to the absence of supporting evidence. SARS-CoV-2 has close genetic similarity to multiple previously identified bat coronaviruses, suggesting it crossed over into humans from bats. Research is ongoing as to whether SARS-CoV-2 came directly from bats or indirectly through any intermediate hosts. Initial genome sequences of the virus showed little genetic diversity, although subsequently a number of stable variants emerged (some spreading more vigorously), indicating that the spillover event introducing SARS-CoV-2 to humans is likely to have occurred in late 2019. Health authorities and scientists internationally state that as with the 2002–2004 outbreak of SARS-1, efforts to trace the specific geographic and taxonomic origins of SARS-CoV-2 could take years, and the results could be inconclusive. In January 2021, the World Health Assembly (decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO)) commissioned a study on the origins of the virus, to be conducted jointly between WHO experts and Chinese scientists. In March 2021, the findings of this study were published online in a report to the WHO Commissioner-General. Echoing the assessment of most virologists, the report determined that the virus most likely had a zoonotic origin in bats, possibly transmitted through an intermediate host. It also stated that a laboratory origin for the virus was "extremely unlikely". Scientists found the conclusions of the WHO report to be helpful but noted that more work was needed. In the United States, the European Union, and other countries, some criticised the lack of transparency and data access in the report's formulation. The WHO issued its 30 March report alongside a statement of the WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying that the matter "requires further investigation". The U.S. government and 13 other countries and the EU issued statements on the same day, echoing Tedros's critique of the report for lacking transparency and data access in its formulation. In a later press conference, the WHO director-general said it was "premature" for the WHO's report to rule out a potential link between a laboratory leak and called on China to provide 'raw data' and lab audits in a second phase of investigations. On 12 October 2021, the WHO announced a new team to study the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2022, this team released an additional report advocating for more investigations in the various possible pathways of emergence, including the possibility of a lab leak. Earlier, on 22 July 2021, the Chinese government had held a press conference in which Zeng Yixin, Vice Health Minister of the National Health Commission (NHC), said that China would not participate in a second phase of the WHO's investigation, denouncing it as "shocking" and "arrogant". In response to the WHO's June 2022 report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian called the lab leak theory "a lie concocted by anti-China forces for political purposes, which has nothing to do with science".