President Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said in a statement on Saturday that the government is concerned about the World Health Organization (WHO) investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why does it matter: Sullivan said the government fears that the Chinese government may have intervened or altered the findings of the investigation.
Context: On the first day of his administration, Biden acted to return the United States to WHO. The Trump administration had initiated a withdrawal from the organization in July 2020.
- WHO teams conducted the investigation last month in Wuhan, China, where the virus first emerged.
- The investigation was settled last May, but was postponed after Chinese officials denied authorization to allow the international team’s scheduled visit.
- The delay drew a rare disapproval from WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The WHO team concluded that it is “extremely unlikely” that the virus came from a laboratory accident and that it probably hit humans through an intermediate species.
- “Our initial findings suggest that introduction via an intermediate host species is the most likely path and that it will require more studies and more specific and targeted research,” said WHO scientist Peter Ben Embarek.
What they are saying: “The mission of the World Health Organization (WHO) has never been more important and we have deep respect for its experts and for the work they are doing every day to combat the pandemic COVID-19 and promote global health and health security” , Sullivan said in a statement.
- “But involving WHO again also means keeping it to the highest standards. And, at this critical moment, protecting WHO’s credibility is a top priority ”.
- “We have deep concerns about how the first findings from the COVID-19 investigation were communicated and questions about the process used to reach them.”
- “It is imperative that this report is independent, with conclusions from experts free from intervention or change by the Chinese government. To better understand this pandemic and prepare for the next, China must make its data available from the first days of the outbreak.”
The big picture: Going forward, Sullivan said that all countries, including China, should be more transparent to prevent health emergencies such as the coronavirus pandemic and allow other countries to respond to them more quickly.
The other side: The Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, said in a statement that the US has in recent years “severely damaged multilateral institutions, including WHO, and severely damaged international cooperation in COVID-19”.
- Therefore, the United States should not “point a finger at other countries” that supported WHO, the statement added.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with comments from the Chinese Embassy.