Discovering the origins of COVID-19 is a moral imperative and all hypotheses must be explored, the head of the World Health Organization said, in his strongest comments yet that the UN body remains committed to finding how the virus arose.
A US agency was reported by the Wall Street Journal to have assessed the pandemic had likely been caused by an unintended Chinese laboratory leak, raising pressure on the WHO to come up with answers. Beijing denies the assessment.
"Understanding #COVID19's origins and exploring all hypotheses remains: a scientific imperative, to help us prevent future outbreaks (and) a moral imperative, for the sake of the millions of people who died and those who live with #LongCOVID," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Twitter.
He was writing to mark three years since the WHO first used the word "pandemic" to describe the global outbreak of COVID-19.
Activists, politicians and academics said in an open letter this weekend that the focus of the anniversary should be on preventing a repeat of the unequal COVID-19 vaccine rollout, saying this led to at least 1.3 million preventable deaths.
In 2021, a WHO-led team spent weeks in and around Wuhan, China where the first human cases were reported and said in a joint report that the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal but further research was needed. China has said no more visits are needed.
Since then, the WHO has set up a scientific advisory group on dangerous pathogens but it has not yet reached any conclusions on how the pandemic began, saying key pieces of data are missing.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
Lucknow Doctors To Mark "Black Raksha Bandhan" Amid Kolkata Rape-Murder Protest
"Critical Shortage" Of Cholera Vaccine, Says WHO, Calls for Production Boost WHO Declares Mpox Global Health Emergency For Second Time In 2 Years Mpox Vaccine Likely Months Away As Africa Health Body Declares Emergency Video: Woman Tries To Jump Off Mumbai's Atal Setu, Saved By Driver, Cops Parents Gave Names Of Interns, Doctors To CBI In Kolkata Horror: Sources Private Jets, Luxury Cars: Lavish Life Of "Ketamine Queen" Jasveen Sangha Bill Gates Calls India A "Global Leader In Breakthrough Innovations" Can Siddaramaiah Government Survive MUDA Scam Allegations? Life On Earth Originates From One Ancestor, Older Than Previously Believed Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.