‘Unlikely’ Wuhan Lab Leak Theory Gets Fresh Look
Voice of America
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - A joint report by the World Health Organization and China this week concluded it is “extremely unlikely” that COVID-19 escaped from a Chinese laboratory, despite the theory receiving renewed attention following the comments of a former top U.S. health official.
The long-awaited WHO report released Tuesday said the lab leak theory was the least likely of four scenarios considered by a team of international experts who traveled to Wuhan, China earlier this year to investigate the origin of the coronavirus. The researchers determined that the virus most likely jumped from bats to humans, probably via a third animal that remains unidentified. That conclusion stands in contrast to the comments of Robert Redfield, who headed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under President Donald Trump. Redfield told CNN last week he believes COVID-19 emerged from a Wuhan lab, though he stressed it was “only an opinion.” Critics -- most prominently senior members of the Trump administration but also others -- suggest a lab accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology may have infected an employee, who then spread the virus to the public.People gather on a bridge where a woman's body was retrieved after floodwater washed away houses and people in Kamuchiri village, Nakuru county, Kenya, on April 30, 2024. At least 48 people were killed in the incident. A man sits on a tree trunk in flooded Kamuchiri village, Kenya, on April 30, 2024. Kenya has been overwhelmed by flooding that killed 66 people on Monday alone and in recent days has blocked a national highway, swamped the main airport and swept a bus off a bridge.