Well, gee wiz, only well over two years too late
WHO now says theory that COVID-19 leaked from Chinese lab should be studied more
Over two years after the coronavirus was first detected in China, and after at least 6.3 million deaths have been counted worldwide from the pandemic, the World Health Organization is recommending in its strongest terms yet that a deeper probe is required into whether a lab accident may be to blame.
That stance marks a sharp reversal of the U.N. health agency’s initial assessment of the pandemic’s origins, and comes after many critics accused WHO of being too quick to dismiss or underplay a lab-leak theory that put Chinese officials on the defensive.
WHO concluded last year that it was “extremely unlikely” COVID-19 might have spilled into humans in the city of Wuhan from a lab. Many scientists suspect the coronavirus jumped into people from bats, possibly via another animal.
Yet in a report released Thursday, WHO’s expert group said “key pieces of data” to explain how the pandemic began were still missing. The scientists said the group would “remain open to any and all scientific evidence that becomes available in the future to allow for comprehensive testing of all reasonable hypotheses.”
Let’s see, a virus that flew around the world within months, that tended to primarily kill the old and people of all ages with pre-existing conditions, kept people sick for long periods of time, spun out many variants, and, according to the sources, didn’t kill Chinese people that much, tending to affect those in the 1st World, Russia, and South America. But, hey, right, it’s because someone in a wet market at a bat or something. And somehow ended up on cruise ships in the Caribbean quickly? No way it came from a lab, right?
WHO’s expert group also noted that since lab accidents in the past have triggered some outbreaks, the highly politicized theory could not be discounted.
Jean-Claude Manuguerra, a co-chair of the 27-member international advisory group, acknowledged that some scientists might be “allergic” to the idea of investigating the lab leak theory, but said they needed to be “open-minded” enough to examine it.
It’s not like there have been previous lab leaks from the Wuhan facility. Or that China pressured WHO to dismiss the notion of a lab leak. Or that there’s lots of evidence for a lab leak.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speculated repeatedly — without evidence — that COVID-19 was started in a Chinese lab. He also accused WHO of “ colluding” with China to cover up the initial outbreak, citing the U.N. health agency’s continued public praise of the country despite China’s refusal to share crucial data.
Without evidence. There was no evidence it came from a bad meal. And, with the Wuhan Institute of Virology right down the road, which seems more likely?
To investigate whether COVID-19 might have been the result of a lab accident, WHO’s experts said interviews should be conducted “with the staff in the laboratories tasked with managing and implementing biosafety and biosecurity.”
Yeah, well, good luck, because you can bet the labs have been sterilized of anything related to coronaviruses and the staff will have been threatened to keep their mouths shut.
Read: Suddenly, WHO Says China Lab Leak Should Be Investigated »
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