India on Friday signalled that it was opposed to any eye-wash investigation into the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, stressing that New Delhi wanted a serial probe in the future to ascertain the source of the outbreak.
In response to media queries on a global study convened by the World Health Organisation (WHO) convened global study on the origin of Covid-19, the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs said that the WHO convened global study on the origin of Covid-19 is an important “first step.” He added: “It stressed the need for next phase studies as also for further data and studies to reach robust conclusions.” In an obvious signal to China, which opposes investigations into the possible origin of the virus from a lab-leak in the city of Wuhan, the spokesperson said that the follow up of the WHO report and further studies “deserve the understanding and cooperation of all."
India’s call for a series of probes follows reports that the WHO is expected to revisit the “dominant theory” that the SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-2, probably originated and spread across the world from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), located in the central China city.
CNN is reporting that fresh investigation will take its cue from the previously overlooked Chinese data on extensive screening of animals for coronavirus ahead of the eruption of the pandemic as one among the several areas that the WHO scientists could investigate. A WHO panel in March had carried out an inconclusive investigation, whose findings are contained in a report. Apparently a 200-page annexe attached to the report is likely to become the basis for the next-level probe.
Pressure has been mounting on the WHO to investigate the lab-leak theory on the origins of SARS-2. On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden ordered the US intelligence to submit a report within three-months on the likelihood of the SARS-2 escaping from a Wuhan lab.
The ongoing discussions about the outbreak have gained renewed attention after the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported citing a still classified US intelligence report that three WIV researchers, showing signs of Covid-19 infection seriously ill in 2019 a month before the first cases of the virus were reported.
Also read: New article fuels perception that Covid-19 virus escaped from a Wuhan lab
The WSJ writeup builds on earlier credible reports that strongly suggest that a lab leak could have been the likely cause of the Covid-19 outbreak.
In a detailed article, the authoritative Bulletin of Atomic Scientist (BAS) had cited five reasons to build a case for a fresh investigation on the possibility that the virus had escaped from WIV.
The BAS report points out that WIV has been engaged in what are called gain-of-function experiments. In simple language, it means that the facility had been conducting experiments to enhance the ability of dangerous animal viruses to infect people. Was SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the Covid-19 pandemic also a result of gain-of-function experiments? In that case, its accidental leakage cannot be ruled out.
Nicholas Wade, the author of the article further identifies Shi Zheng-li as a nodal researcher at WIV, who was engaged in gain-of-function experiments. The author points out that Shi had earlier collaborated with coronavirus researcher Ralph S. Baric. In November 2015 the duo created a novel virus by taking the backbone of the SARS1 virus and replacing its spike protein with one from a bat virus. The development of SARS-CoV-2 could therefore have been a logical extension of her earlier work.
Second, the safety standards of WIV were simply not fool-proof to prevent an accidental leakage of a lab developed Coronavirus. Wade spotlights that gain-of-function experiments were being carried out in the less safe BSL-2 level labs.
Third, Chinese lack of transparency during the conduct of investigations to determine the origin of the pandemic at Wuhan has further strengthened the lab escape proposition.
Fourth, the Chinese authorities went out of their way to sell the theory that the SARS-CoV-2virus evolved naturally. Why did they have to mount such an extraordinary effort?
Finally, the Chinese attempted to manipulate the composition of the WHO investigators, who visited them in February, and controlled the team’s information access, generating further speculation of foul play.
On the back of these fast-developing chorus of full proof investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, a leading scientist on the WHO’s Covid-19 mission to China has demanded a follow-up trip to gather additional research on the origins of the disease with a rider that it should be separate from any audit of information provided by Beijing.
The comments from Dutch virologist Marion Koopmans came on May 25 after the United States called for international experts to be allowed to evaluate the source of the coronavirus and the early days of the outbreak, in a second phase of the WHO’s investigation into the origins of the coronavirus.
