The WHO, which calls on Beijing to associate it with investigations into the origin of the virus, said on Friday that it was "of natural origin" when the American president linked it to a Chinese laboratory.
Leaving from Wuhan in China in December, the epidemic has infected more than 3.2 million people worldwide and left at least 230,000 dead, according to a report by AFP.
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"Regarding the origin of the virus in Wuhan, we have listened to many scientists who have studied this virus, and we are assured that this virus is of natural origin," said the director of emergency programs of the 'World Health Organization, Michael Ryan, interviewed by a reporter.
"What is important is that we determine the natural host of this virus," he continued, during a virtual press conference from the organization's headquarters in Geneva. He explained that "the main objective is to ensure that we can understand the virus well, that we understand animal-to-human transmission and that we understand how the barrier between animal and human species has been crossed".
The objective of this study is "to put in place public health and prevention measures to prevent this from happening again anywhere" , he insisted several times.
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The WHO, which has so far praised Beijing for its management of the crisis, on Friday called on the Chinese authorities to invite them to participate in "ongoing or planned" investigations into the animal origins of the virus. This call comes when the world health authorities are severely criticized by the United States, which accuses the WHO of having delayed warning so as not to offend Beijing.
WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus again defended his action on Friday, saying he went to China himself on January 28 to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and agree to the site visit. 'an international team of scientists. "I remember that people advised us not to go to China because we did not know how the virus behaved," he said, indicating that he was not "afraid" to go there. .
On January 30, WHO declared a global health emergency, which it refused to do on January 23.