US says it supports WHO move for new probe team into COVID-19 origins

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) – The US Mission to the United Nations in Geneva said Friday it supports a World Health Organization statement the preceding day on the next series of studies into the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, while reports said China has rejected the proposal.

"The United States appreciates the August 12 statement by the World Health Organization on the next series of studies into the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic," said the US statement.

"We welcome the emphasis on scientific-based studies and data-driven efforts to find the origins of this pandemic so that we can better detect, prevent, and respond to future disease outbreaks."

China had said it rejects the WHO's next-phase origins-tracing work proposal, Global Times reported Friday.

The move is not based on the scientific evidence gathered from the first-phase study jointly conducted by Chinese and foreign experts in Wuhan earlier this year, the state-run daily reported.

The proposal was also made without full consultation with member states, a senior Chinese diplomat was quoted as saying by the daily.

- Well-qualified scientific experts

The US said it will nominate well-qualified scientific experts for the International Scientific Advisory Group for Origins of Novel Pathogens, or SAGO, as called for by the WHO.

"We endorse the call for other countries to do the same," said the statement.

"We look forward to continuing our scientific cooperation with the WHO and the SAGO as we all seek to improve global efforts to respond to outbreaks and to identify and prevent them in the future."

WHO said Thursday it had set up a new investigation team into the origins of COVID-19 after criticism from China that the study had been "politicized."

"Following the publication of the WHO-China joint report of the phase one studies on the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in March 2021, WHO has outlined the next series of studies ... and continues to be in discussions with member states and experts on next steps," said the WHO.

However, the WHO noted that China and other states had suggested that the March study had been "politicized" or that the WHO acted due to "political pressure."

On July 17, WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said he expects China's support for the next phase of the scientific process to identify the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the coronavirus, after the first part was criticized.

The US, which has fully engaged with the WHO after former President Donald Trump said it would leave, has criticized the report along with other nations, urging further investigations, which drew criticism from China.

WHO said: "To move forward, WHO calls for all governments to depoliticize the situation and cooperate to accelerate the origins studies, and importantly to work together to develop a common framework for future emerging pathogens of pandemic potential."

The origins of SARS-CoV-2 should not attribute "blame, finger-pointing" and "it is vitally important to know how the COVID-19 pandemic began, to set an example for establishing the origins of all future animal-human spillover events," said the WHO.

WHO announced the International Scientific Advisory Group for Origins of Novel Pathogens, or SAGO, a new advisory group to advise on a framework to study the emergence of future emerging pathogens with pandemic potential.