WHO Concludes Investigation into COVID-19 Origins with Uncertain Outcomes

The World Health Organization (WHO) stated on June 27 that all theories concerning how the COVID-19 pandemic originated are still being considered, following a protracted investigation that faced significant challenges due to the withholding of vital information. The pandemic, which the WHO estimates to have resulted in around 20 million deaths, has greatly affected global economies, health systems, and everyday lives since the first cases emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2019.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus clarified that, at present, all possible explanations—such as zoonotic spillover from animals or a laboratory accident—are still under review. The organization's initial collaborative report with China in March 2021 suggested that the virus most likely made the jump from bats to humans through an intermediary species, labeling the idea of a lab leak from Wuhan's virology lab as "extremely unlikely". However, this assessment drew significant backlash for its perceived lack of transparency and thorough investigation into the lab-leak theory.

In response to mounting criticism, Tedros initiated a new investigation in July 2021, forming the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), comprising 27 global experts. Their recent 78-page report indicates that evidence weighs more heavily in favor of animal spillover, whether directly from bats or through another host, yet it stops short of determining the precise time and location of this event or confirming if the Wuhan wet market was the initial site of human transmission.

While the report supports the theory of an animal spillover based on current evidence, the chair of SAGO, Marietjie Venter, stressed the ongoing uncertainty due to insufficient information that has not yet been provided by various nations, including Germany and the United States. In an additional note of contention, earlier this week, one SAGO member resigned, and three others requested their names be removed from the investigation report.