WHO Secretary-General Urges China to Cooperate in COVID-19 Origin Investigation

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunbyeol Kim] Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), urged the Chinese government on the 12th (local time) to cooperate in the investigation of the origin of COVID-19.

Right after attending the Group of Seven (G7) summit, he told reporters, "We expect better cooperation and transparency in the next phase of the investigation into the origin of the virus." He added, "It is a well-known fact that cooperation from the Chinese side is necessary," and also said, "Since the first report was prepared, we have faced difficulties in sharing raw data."

He said preparations for the next investigation are currently underway and that related discussions took place at the G7 summit that day.

Earlier, the WHO conducted an epidemiological investigation in Wuhan, China, the initial outbreak site of COVID-19, and released the first report last March, drawing a line under the possibility of a laboratory leak of the virus as unlikely. However, after U.S. President Joe Biden ordered intelligence agencies to conduct a separate investigation including the possibility of a lab leak, voices from various countries demanding a new WHO-led investigation have been growing.

In this regard, Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission of China, strongly denied the recent spread of the 'COVID-19 virus laboratory leak theory' by Western media during a briefing on the 11th, calling it an absolutely impossible hypothesis.

Meanwhile, Director-General Tedros repeatedly urged pharmaceutical companies to waive intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines and requested advanced countries to expand vaccine support to developing countries. He said, "The goal is to vaccinate 70% of the global population by July next year, and for this, 11 billion doses of vaccines are needed," adding, "We need more vaccines, faster." The G7 leaders agreed to provide 1 billion doses of vaccines to developing countries by 2022.