The World Health Organization (WHO) keeps open several possibilities for the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that originated from covid-19. And one of them is that the virus left a laboratory until it spread through the population. With a team deployed in Wuhan, China, where it all started, WHO plans to see the emergence of the coronavirus in December 2019.
For now, says Peter Daszak, a specialist in infectious diseases and one of the WHO members who are now in Wuhan, scientists are finding data “that no one has yet seen” and that gets them close to “really getting somewhere” . “We are getting new information and it’s good, it’s very valuable things that are starting to help us find the right paths,” he said in British Sky News interview.
The WHO mission landed in Wuhan province in January, more than a year after the outbreak began. Contrary to what was feared – that China would not facilitate access to information – Daszak guarantees that the collaboration is complete.
“I think China is open and willing to work with us and we see it every day,” he said in the same interview, adding that it is precisely from the Chinese authorities that the new information is coming. “There are little clues that we found here and there in the wealth of data.”
One of the primary places to visit was, of course, the Huanan fish market, where the first case was detected. Daszak says that the team has been talking to salespeople, stall owners, suppliers who work there and regular market visitors.
The following visits include one of the most important and potentially decisive: the Wuhan Institute of Virology, with whom the British infectious disease specialist has strong relationships, and who was accused of manipulating and ‘escaping’ the coronavirus from one of the their labs. THE hypothesis was rejected by the Institute but it is not ruled out by WHO.
“We are all aware of the assumptions surrounding the potential involvement of the laboratory in this [origem da covid-19] and we will certainly be asking questions about all the key aspects of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, ”replied Daszak.
The visit is scheduled for this Wednesday.
For the time being, and after a visit to an animal disease treatment center, WHO keeps all the possibilities open. “If there are data that point to a hypothesis, we will follow the data, we will follow the evidence where it takes us,” said the expert. “If they take us to a fish market and a cold chain, we will follow them there.”
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