Covid lab leak unlikely, bats may be culprit: who-china study
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The release of the report has been delayed over time, leading to speculations of China skewing conclusions and deflecting any blame for the spread of the virus, reported AP. There was no
evidence found of large outbreaks that could be related to COVID-19 prior to December 2019 in Wuhan or anywhere else, World Health Organisation's (WHO) Ben Embarek said on Tuesday, 9
February, detailing the findings of a joint WHO and Chinese mission that was probing the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. He added that the hypothesis of the virus being leaked from a
lab was also ‘extremely unlikely’, noting that when lab accidents happen, ‘they are extremely rare events’, _The Guardian_ reported. At a briefing, China’s team head Liang Wannian said that
the team did find evidence of wider circulation outside the Wuhan Huanan market in December 2019, adding that the investigation has uncovered new information but has not dramatically changed
the picture of the COVID-19 outbreak, reported _Reuters._ He further expressed that his team regarded the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) to be in a good state in 2019 and that it was
‘very unlikely that anything could escape from such a place’. _(With inputs from AP, Reuters and AFP)_