China Under Pressure After WHO Chief Revives Lab Leak Theory

BEIJING (AFP) - China faced mounting pressure Wednesday over the investigation into the origins of COVID-19, after the WHO chief revived a theory it may have leaked from a Chinese lab and the United States led concerns over data access.

A report by WHO and Chinese experts released on Tuesday had judged the lab-leak hypothesis highly unlikely, saying the virus behind COVID-19 had probably jumped from bats to humans via an intermediary animal.

China warmly welcomed the report, seeing it as confirmation of its handling of the investigation following allegations it had tried to delay and then restrict it.

The report also initially appeared to back China's firm rejection of theories that the pandemic may have been triggered by a leak from a virology lab in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus first emerged.

But WHO chief Teodros Ghebreyesus on Tuesday reopened the lab leak theory, as he raised concerns about the level of access China provided to the experts during their visit to Wuhan in January.

In my discussions with the team, they expressed the difficulties they encountered in accessing raw data, Tedros said.

He called for timely and comprehensive data sharing in future investigations.