WHO lambasts China for allegedly hiding data on COVID-19's origin

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday rebuked China for allegedly hiding scientific research that might reveal the origin of COVID-19, according to the news outlet The New York Times (NYT). The WHO also questioned Chinese officials regarding the reasons behind not communicating the data three years ago and why, after it appeared online in January this year, it could not be found now.

• Since the start of the global pandemic, numerous theories alleged that the novel coronavirus came from pangolins, an endangered species, sold in Chinese markets.
• While some United States (US) reports alleged that China created the virus in a lab for biological warfare, others claimed it was leaked deliberately to destabilize the international economy.
• Nevertheless, there has been no general consensus regarding the matter yet.

Speaking about the alleged missing Chinese evidence, WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there is an immediate need to share it with the international community. "These data could have — and should have — been shared three years ago," said the WHO official. He also added that this missing evidence "needs to be shared with the international community immediately."

Before the said data went missing online, an international team of virus experts had reportedly downloaded it and started analyzing the research. As per the NYT report, the experts alleged that the data backed the belief that the COVID-19 pandemic might have started from the illegally traded raccoon dogs, which infected humans at Wuhan Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in China.

Upon reviewing the data, experts also claimed that the research also provides proof that raccoon dogs had reportedly left behind DNA in the same place at the wholesale market where genetic signatures of the new COVID-19 were also discovered. According to many, these finding indicates that the animals might have been infected and may have transmitted coronavirus to humans.

Last week, a biologist from France reportedly discovered the crucial genetic sequences in the database, after which she and her team started looking for more clues regarding the origins of the global pandemic. While the team is yet to publish any paper outlining their findings, the researchers reportedly handed over the material's analysis to a WHO advisory group this week in a meeting.

As per Dr. Sarah Cobey, an evolutionary biologist and epidemiologist at the University of Chicago, the analysis mentioned above seems to differ from the data China provided earlier. "It's just very unlikely to be seeing this much animal DNA, especially raccoon dog DNA, mixed in with viral samples if it's simply mostly human contamination," stated Dr. Cobey, who wasn't involved in the latest analysis.

As per the news agency AFP, over 6.8 million coronavirus deaths have been reported to WHO, with more than 758 million confirmed cases so far. Furthermore, the world health body earlier also acknowledged that the actual toll could be way higher. Earlier this month, Ghebreyesus also stated that finding the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic was a "moral imperative."