Covid virus 'leaked' from Wuhan lab: WHO chief

London: Just days after saying that the Covid lab leak theory needs "further investigations", the World Health Organisation (WHO) chief has privately confided to a senior European politician that the pandemic originated from China's infamous Wuhan lab, according to a report.

According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the most likely explanation was a catastrophic accident at a laboratory in Wuhan, where infections first spread during late 2019, Daily Mail reported.

However, publicly, the UN health agency maintains that "all hypotheses remain on the table". Meanwhile, WHO experts, including the SAGO panel, have maintained that China is not cooperating with the Covid origin probe.

Ghebreyesus also called out "full collaboration from all countries, including China, where the first cases of SARS-CoV-2 were reported".