WHO Director-General in China Discusses COVID Origin Investigation with Premier Li Keqiang

Tedros WHO Secretary-General Twitter Capture

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on the 5th (local time) that he met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to discuss the investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, who is visiting China to attend the Beijing Winter Olympics, shared the news of his meeting with Premier Li on his Twitter along with photos.

He stated, "We discussed the need to strengthen cooperation on the investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 virus based on science and evidence." He added, "We also discussed the urgent need to actively work towards equitable distribution of vaccines to vaccinate 70% of the population in each country this year."

Last year, the WHO dispatched an international team of experts to Wuhan, China, where COVID-19 was first reported, to conduct an investigation into the virus's origins.

The experts concluded that the hypothesis that COVID-19 originated from bats and was transmitted to humans through an intermediate host holds more weight, while the hypothesis that the virus originated from a laboratory is extremely unlikely.

However, the WHO pointed out issues with data sharing at the time and requested China's cooperation for a second phase of investigation. In particular, Director-General Tedros stated that the Wuhan laboratory should be included in the scope of the second phase investigation.

In response, China opposes the politicization of the COVID-19 origin investigation and insists that since it has already cooperated with the WHO's investigation, any additional investigations should be conducted elsewhere.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.