G14 countries shows concern on WHO's report on "origin of coronavirus"

A group of 14 countries expressed concern over a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the origin of the coronavirus, citing delays and a lack of full access to data, while the head of the agency called for further research into a theory. The blast was the result of a laboratory leak.

The widely-anticipated study on Tuesday was based on an investigation by the agency's fact-finding mission into the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the new virus was first detected.

After a four-week visit, the WHO team, made up of 17 international experts, concluded in the report that it was 'extremely unlikely' that COVID-19 originated from a laboratory leak, a position that last year was first advanced by the United States. China has strongly rejected such allegations.

Instead, the scientists said it was likely that the virus would be introduced by humans through an intermediate host and that it was possible that the virus could be transmitted from animals to humans.

Later on Tuesday, the 14 nations, including the United States, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia and Israel, stated in a declaration that they were "complete" efforts to end the pandemic.

However, they added that it was "essential that we express our common concern that the international expert study on the source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is significantly delayed and that it does not have access to complete, initial data and samples".

Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Slovenia and the United Kingdom also signed the declaration. Separately on Tuesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also called for further research to reach 'more robust conclusions'.

"I do not believe this assessment was comprehensive enough," he told a news conference on Tuesday.

"Although the team has decided that a laboratory leak is the least likely explanation, it needs to be further investigated, possibly with additional missions involving specialist experts, which I am ready to set up," Tedros added.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry rebuffed the alleged criticism of the WTO chief, saying that Beijing "fully demonstrated its openness, transparency and responsible attitude".

"Politicizing this issue will only seriously hamper global cooperation in the study of the origin, jeopardize cooperation against pandemics and cost more lives," the ministry said in a statement.

The European Union calls the report a 'useful first step' and stresses 'the need for further work', and insists that 'relevant authorities' should help without mentioning China.

Peter Ben Embarek, head of the investigation team that moved to China, discussed the findings, saying the report 'is not a static product but a dynamic one', adding a new analysis.

So far, Embarek said no evidence or testimony was suggesting that one of the laboratories in Wuhan, a city where virological facilities exist, could have been involved in a leak accident. "It's not impossible," he said, pointing out that accidents in laboratories have occurred in the past.

"But we could not hear or see anything that could look at another conclusion," he added.

The inability of the WHO mission to decide yet where or how the virus began to spread among humans means that tensions will continue over how the pandemic began - and whether China helped the efforts to find out whether, as the US claimed, prevented it.

Embarek said team members from all sides had political pressure but insisted: "We were never put under pressure to remove critical elements in our report." He also asserted: "Where we did not have full access to all the raw information, this is a recommendation for future studies."