WHO once again asks China for Covid origins

London: World Health Organisation head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on China to share the requested data concerning Covid-19 in a bid to understand the origins of the virus.

"We continue to call on China to share the data and conduct the studies that we have requested, to better understand the origins of this virus," the WHO chief told a media briefing, as quoted in a statement on the organization's website.

"As I have said many times, all hypotheses remain on the table," he added.

Three years after its emergence in China's Wuhan, exactly how SARS-CoV-2 first emerged as a respiratory pathogen capable of sustained human-to-human transmission remains the subject of active debate.

Experts have put forward two dominant theories on the origins of the virus. The first theory is that SARS-CoV-2 is the result of a natural zoonotic spillover. The second theory is that the virus infected humans as a consequence of a research-related incident.

According to Reuters, a WHO body meets every few months to decide whether the new coronavirus has killed over 6.6 million people, still presents a "public health emergency of international concern" (PHEIC).