Ten Q&As on Origin Studying of the COVID-19 (2)

Q: On July 15, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference that investigations into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic in China were being hampered by the lack of raw data on the first days of spread there, and asked China "to be transparent and open and to cooperate", adding that it is premature to rule out a "lab leak" as the origin and more study is needed. Do you have any comment?

A: The fact is, China showed raw data that requires special attention item by item when the joint mission was conducting the origins study in China. Foreign experts said on multiple occasions that the expert group has access to large amounts of data and information and fully understands that some data cannot be copied or taken abroad as it concerns personal privacy.

During the joint study, China gave full support to the expert team and did its best to coordinate relevant organizations to meet the requirements of the experts. The joint mission made field trips to institutions including the Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control, the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Jinyintan Hospital and the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. They also visited bio-safety laboratories and had in-depth, candid and science-based exchanges with medical workers, laboratory staff members, researchers, market managers, merchants, residents and recovered patients. Through these field trips and in-depth visits, members of the mission unanimously agreed that the hypothesis of "lab leak" is extremely unlikely.

All those mentioned above are captured fully and unequivocally in the WHO report of the joint study released in March.