Share full data on Covid origin, WHO asks China

THE World Health Organization urged China to share data on the origins of the Covid pandemic, five years on from its start in the city of Wuhan, BBC News reported.

"This is a moral and scientific imperative," the WHO said in a statement to mark what it called the "milestone" anniversary.

"Without transparency, sharing, and co-operation among countries, the world cannot adequately prevent and prepare for future epidemics and pandemics," it added.

Many scientists think the virus transferred naturally from animals to humans, but some suspicions persist that it escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan.