‘Moral imperative’: WHO pressures China to share COVID origins data coronavirus pandemic news
The World Health Organization (WHO) asked China to share information on how COVID-19 emerged five years ago.
The coronavirus has killed millions of people, locked billions of people in their homes, crippled economies and destroyed health systems.
“We continue to call on China to share data and access so that we can understand the origins of COVID-19. This is a moral and scientific imperative,” WHO said in a statement.
“Without transparency, sharing, and cooperation between countries, the world cannot adequately prevent and prepare for future epidemics and pandemics.”
WHO reported how on December 31, 2019, its country office in China took up a media statement from health authorities in the central city of Wuhan regarding cases of “viral pneumonia”.
“In the weeks, months and years that followed, COVID-19 came to shape our lives and our world,” the UN health agency said.
“As we mark this milestone, let’s take a moment to honor the lives changed and lost, recognizing those who have suffered from COVID-19 and Long COVID “Let’s express our gratitude to the health workers who have sacrificed so much to care for us and are committed to learning from COVID-19 to build a healthier tomorrow.”
Beijing insisted on Tuesday that it had shared information on the coronavirus “without withholding anything.”
“Five years ago… China immediately shared epidemic information and viral gene sequences with WHO and the international community. Without holding anything back, we shared our prevention, control and treatment experience, making a major contribution to the international community’s work fighting the epidemic, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said.
‘Painful Lesson’
More than 760 million COVID-19 cases and 6.9 million deaths have been recorded worldwide, according to WHO.
In mid-2023, it declared COVID-19 to be eliminated as a public health emergency, but said the disease should be a permanent reminder of the potential for new viruses to emerge with devastating consequences.
Data from the early days of the pandemic was uploaded by Chinese scientists to an international database in early 2023, just months after China lifted all of its COVID-19 restrictions and reopened its borders to the rest of the world.
The data showed that DNA from several animal species — including raccoon dogs — was present in environmental samples that tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID. , suggesting they were the “most likely carriers” of the disease, according to a team of international researchers.
In 2021, a WHO-led team spent several weeks in and around Wuhan – where the first cases were found – and said the virus had likely spread from bats to humans through another animal, but called for further research. was needed.
China has said there is no need for further visits and that early cases should be traced to other countries.
Earlier this month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addressed the issue of whether the world was better prepared for the next pandemic than COVID-19.
“The answer is yes and no,” he told a news conference. “If the next pandemic struck today the world would still face the same vulnerabilities and weaknesses that helped COVID-19 gain a foothold five years ago.
“But the world has also learned many painful lessons taught by the pandemic, and has taken important steps to strengthen its defenses against future epidemics and pandemics.”
In December 2021, countries, alarmed by the devastation caused by COVID, decided to begin drafting an agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.
WHO’s 194 member states negotiating the treaty have agreed to most of what it covers, but are stuck on practicalities.
A major fault line is between Western countries with major pharmaceutical industry sectors and poorer countries that are wary of being sidelined if the next pandemic hits.
