Published 20:49 IST, February 20th 2021
New study 'finds evidence' over coronavirus origin: 'Started in Wuhan lab'
A researcher from the University of Hamburg, Dr Roland Wiesendanger, has published a 100-page paper saying that the COVID-19 virus emerged in a Wuhan lab.
- World News
- 2 min read
A researcher from the University of Hamburg, Dr Roland Wiesendanger, has published a 100-page paper saying that the COVID-19 virus emerged in a Wuhan lab. However, the WHO has dismissed the theory as ‘extremely unlikely’, reports Express.co.uk. In his report, Dr Wiesendanger cited the safety concerns around the facility. He also mentioned the authorities' failure to find a coronavirus animal host.
"Circumstantial evidence"
Speaking to the German newspaper ZDF, he said that he is 99.9 per cent sure that the coronavirus came from the laboratory. However, he admits that his theory is based on "circumstantial evidence". He also points out that no natural host for COVID-19 has been found yet.
Also, the WHO team that visited Wuhan in China to investigate the COVID-19 pandemic informed that after looking into the origins of Coronavirus in the country, they discovered that signs of the outbreak were much wider in the city in December 2019 than previously thought. According to local media reports, the investigators are urgently seeking access to hundreds and thousands of blood samples from Wuhan that China has not so far let them examine. The lead investigator of the WHO mission, Peter Ben Embarek, while speaking to CNN said that the mission had found several signs of the more wide-ranging 2019 spread, including establishing for the first time that there were over a dozen strains of the virus in Wuhan in December 2019.
Earlier on February 9, the WHO team said that there is no evidence of Coronavirus in any animal species in China. Meanwhile, the US on Saturday raised concerns over the possibility of the Chinese government's interference in the World Health Organization's (WHO) recent investigation into the origins of COVID-19 in Wuhan. He stressed on the importance of an investigation that is "free from intervention or alteration by the Chinese government" into the origin of COVID-19.
(Image Credits: Pixabay)
Updated 20:49 IST, February 20th 2021