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Updated March 29th, 2021 at 14:13 IST

Covid-19 likely spread from animals to humans, says WHO-China draft report

It's yet to be ascertained whether the details in the WHO-China study over origins of Covid-19 will be changed before the final release, reports said Monday

Reported by: Gourav Mishra
WHO/ AP
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Days after Zoologist Dr, Peter Daszak who was part of the WHO team that visited China's Wuhan had hinted that "the coronavirus is likely to be amplified in Huanan market," a draft copy of the WHO-China study on the origins of Covid-19 obtained by The Associated Press on Monday read "The transmission of the virus from bats to human through another animal is the most likely scenario and that of a lab leak is extremely unlikely."

Is China attempting to manipulate WHO-China study on the origins of Covid-19?

The team has now proposed further research in every area except the hypothesis on lab leak. Even as experts on the WHO team that visited China have pointed out that the report will be released soon, the release has been delayed. Speculations over China's attempts to skew the conclusions to prevent blame for the Covid-19 pandemic also cannot be ruled out.
 
The AP, on Monday, received what seemed to be a near-final version of the WHO-China study on the origins of coronavirus, from a Geneva-based diplomat from a WHO-member country. It's yet to be ascertained whether the details in the study presented will be changed before the release. The diplomat further did not want to be identified as they aren't authorised to release it ahead of publication.

What WHO team found about the spread of the virus from horseshoe bats?

Meanwhile, the researchers have listed four scenarios in order of likelihood and have concluded that transmission of the virus through a second animal was very likely. They also evaluated the direct spread of the virus from bats to humans as likely and said that the spread through "cold-chain" food products was possible, but not likely.
 
The closest relative of the virus that causes Covid-19 has been found in horseshoe bats, which carry coronaviruses. However, the WHO-China study until now says "the evolutionary distance between these bat viruses and SARS-CoV-2 is estimated to be several decades, suggesting the missing link."  Peter Ben Embarek who led the WHO team in its Wuhan mission had said Friday that the report has been finalised and is being fact-checked and translated. “I expect that in the next few days, that whole process will be completed and we will be able to release it publicly,” he had added. 

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Published March 29th, 2021 at 14:13 IST

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