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== U.S. government investigations ==
== U.S. government investigations ==

In mid-January 2020, U.S. intelligence agencies reported to U.S. officials that they had not detected any alarm within the Chinese government that analysts presumed would be associated with an accidental virus leak from a government lab.<ref name="NYT-examination">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-response.html |work=[[New York Times]] |title=He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump's Failure on the Virus |first1=Eric |last1=Lipton |first2=David E. |last2=Sanger |first3=Maggie |last3=Haberman |first4=Michael D. |last4=Shear |first5=Mark |last5=Mazzetti |first6=Julian E. |last6=Barnes |date=11 April 2020 |access-date=16 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200415115021/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-response.html |archive-date=15 April 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>


On 6 February 2020, the director of the White House's [[Office of Science and Technology Policy]] requested the [[National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine]] to convene a meeting of "experts, world class geneticists, coronavirus experts, and evolutionary biologists", to "assess what data, information and samples are needed to address the unknowns, in order to understand the evolutionary origins of COVID-19 and more effectively respond to both the outbreak and any resulting information".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalacademies.org/documents/link/LD006CF17B5004C7B41F63CD7E0A0F4EDF738C451F32/fileview/D20D1390AB906330493E8A40B27E965A6761F4117EA2/OSTP+Coronavirus+Request+to+NASEM_02.06.2020.pdf|title=OSTP Coronavirus Request to NASEM|website=www.nationalacademies.org}}</ref>
On 6 February 2020, the director of the White House's [[Office of Science and Technology Policy]] requested the [[National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine]] to convene a meeting of "experts, world class geneticists, coronavirus experts, and evolutionary biologists", to "assess what data, information and samples are needed to address the unknowns, in order to understand the evolutionary origins of COVID-19 and more effectively respond to both the outbreak and any resulting information".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalacademies.org/documents/link/LD006CF17B5004C7B41F63CD7E0A0F4EDF738C451F32/fileview/D20D1390AB906330493E8A40B27E965A6761F4117EA2/OSTP+Coronavirus+Request+to+NASEM_02.06.2020.pdf|title=OSTP Coronavirus Request to NASEM|website=www.nationalacademies.org}}</ref>

Revision as of 16:49, 20 January 2021

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Investigations into the origin of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) include several ongoing missions being conducted by governments and international organisations.

Unknown origin

The origin of COVID-19 currently remains unknown. While it is agreed that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, originated in bats, its exact evolutionary history, the identity and provenance of its most recent ancestors, and the place, time, and mechanism of transmission of the first human infection, remain unknown.[1][2] Two conflicting theories have gained prominence since the first cases were detected: natural accident and laboratory accident.[3] Health authorities in China and abroad have cautioned that origin tracing efforts could take years and the results could be inconclusive.[4]

International calls for investigations

In April 2020, Australian foreign minister Marise Payne called for an independent international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.[5] A few days later, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison insisted that Australia should remain committed to an independent investigation into the origin of COVID-19 in spite of China's dismissal of the prospect.[6] German chancellor Angela Merkel also pressed China for transparency about the origin of the coronavirus, following similar concerns raised by the French president Emmanuel Macron.[7] Britain also expressed support for an investigation, although both France and Britain said the priority at the time was to first fight the virus.[8][9]

In May 2020, the World Health Assembly, which governs the World Health Organization (WHO), passed a motion calling for a "comprehensive, independent and impartial" investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic. A record 137 countries, including Australia and China, co-sponsored the motion, giving overwhelming international endorsement to the investigation.[10]

Chinese government investigations

The first investigation conducted in China was by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, responding to hospitals reporting cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology, resulting in the closure of the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market on 1 January 2020 for environmental sanitation and disinfection. Chinese national authorities informed the WHO China Country Office of these cases on 31 December 2019.[11]

In April 2020, China imposed restrictions on publishing academic research on the novel coronavirus. Investigations into the origin of the virus would receive extra scrutiny and must be approved by Central Government officials.[12] Despite the restrictions, Ian Lipkin, a U.S. scientist, said that he was working with a team of Chinese researchers under the auspices of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a Chinese government agency, to investigate the origin of the virus. Lipkin has developed long-standing relationships with Chinese officials, including premier Li Keqiang, because of his contributions to rapid testing for SARS in 2003.[13]

In December 2020, it was reported that the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper featured a study by scientists associated with the state-backed Chinese Academy of Sciences positing that the earliest human-to-human transmission occurred on the Indian subcontinent three to four months before the Wuhan outbreak. The study, which was not peer-reviewed, was posted on the preprint platform SSRN. It was later withdrawn from the platform at the authors' request.[14]

U.S. government investigations

In mid-January 2020, U.S. intelligence agencies reported to U.S. officials that they had not detected any alarm within the Chinese government that analysts presumed would be associated with an accidental virus leak from a government lab.[15]

On 6 February 2020, the director of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy requested the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a meeting of "experts, world class geneticists, coronavirus experts, and evolutionary biologists", to "assess what data, information and samples are needed to address the unknowns, in order to understand the evolutionary origins of COVID-19 and more effectively respond to both the outbreak and any resulting information".[16]

In April 2020, it was reported that the U.S. intelligence community was investigating whether the virus came from an accidental leak from a Chinese lab. The theory was one of several possibilities being pursued by the investigators. While it is a known fact that scientists at a lab in Wuhan have conducted ongoing research on coronaviruses, a U.S. official said that the results of the investigation were "inconclusive".[17][18] In May 2020, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mark Milley said the weight of evidence at the time suggested that the coronavirus was neither man-made nor released from a lab, although "nothing's conclusive".[19]

On 4 January 2021, The Times reported that Matthew Pottinger, then Deputy National Security Advisor, said that a whistleblower former scientist from the Wuhan Institute of Virology has been working with U.S. intelligence services, revealing that the laboratory was linked to the Chinese military, which may have been using its research for dual use.[20] Since the beginning of the pandemic, Pottinger had believed that Chinese leaders were engaging in a massive coverup and "psychological warfare" to obscure the origin of the virus and deflect blame. He pushed intelligence agencies to explore the theory that the virus was accidentally leaked from a virology lab in Wuhan.[21]

On 15 January 2021, the U.S. State Department published a "fact sheet", stating that the U.S. government was not sure if the outbreak of the virus began "through contact with infected animals", or as a result of "an accident at a laboratory" in Wuhan. The document stated "The U.S. government has reason to believe that several researchers inside the WIV became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses." It further stated that the institute has "engaged in classified research, including laboratory animal experiments, on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017".[22][23]

World Health Organization investigations

In mid 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) began negotiations with the government of China on conducting an investigation into the origins of COVID-19. On 5 November 2020, the WHO published a "terms of reference" document for a "WHO-convened Global Study of the Origins of SARS-CoV-2" based on terms agreed in their negotiations with the government of China. The terms of reference outline a first phase of study to better understand how the virus "might have started circulating in Wuhan", and a second phase of longer-term studies based on its findings. [24]

The WHO formed a team of thirteen researchers with expertise in virology, public health and animals to conduct investigations.[25] The mission was expected to travel to China in the first week of January 2021 to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.[26] However, the Chinese government blocked the entry of the WHO team after their visas were not approved, despite the fact that China had previously agreed to allow the team's entry.[27][28][29][30] A few days later, permission was granted for the team to arrive.[31][32][33] On 14 January 2021, the WHO's investigation team arrived in Wuhan, China.[34]

U.S. officials previously denounced the investigation as a "Potemkin exercise" and criticised the "terms of reference" allowing Chinese scientists to do the first phase of preliminary research.[20][35] On 15 January, U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo said that to assist the WHO investigative team's work and ensure a transparent, thorough investigation of COVID-19's origin, the U.S. was sharing new information and urging the WHO to press the Chinese government to address three specific issues, including the illnesses of several researchers inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in autumn 2019, the WIV's research on "RaTG13" and "gain of function", and the WIV's links to the Chinese military.[36] On 18 January, the U.S. called on China to allow the WHO's expert team to interview "care givers, former patients and lab workers" in the city of Wuhan, drawing a rebuke from the Chinese government. Australia also called for the WHO team to have access to "relevant data, information and key locations".[34]

The Lancet COVID-19 Commission task force

On November 23, 2020, an international task force led by Dr. Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, was formed as part of The Lancet COVID-19 Commission, chaired by Dr. Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University. Daszak stated that the task force was formed to "conduct a thorough and rigorous investigation into the origins and early spread of SARS-CoV-2". The task force has 12 members with backgrounds in One Health, outbreak investigation, virology, lab biosecurity and disease ecology. [37]

See also

References

  1. ^ "WHO-convened Global Study of the Origins of SARS-CoV-2". WHO. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  2. ^ Relman, David A. (November 24, 2020). "Opinion: To stop the next pandemic, we need to unravel the origins of COVID-19". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (47): 29246–29248. doi:10.1073/pnas.2021133117. ISSN 0027-8424. PMID 33144498. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  3. ^ Ryan, Jackson (January 19, 2021). "How the hunt for COVID-19's origin became a twisted, confusing mess". CNET. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  4. ^ Cadell, Cate (December 11, 2020). "One year on, Wuhan market at epicentre of virus outbreak remains barricaded and empty". Reuters. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  5. ^ Worthington, Brett (April 19, 2020). "Payne wants transparent probe into coronavirus origins independent of WHO". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  6. ^ STAYNER, TOM (21 April 2020). "Australia and China clash over independent inquiry into coronavirus pandemic". SBS News. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  7. ^ Lau, Stuart; Wong, Catherine (April 21, 2020). "Germany adds to growing pressure on China over coronavirus origin". South China Morning Post. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  8. ^ "UK envoy in Washington backs probe into origins of pandemic, WHO reforms". Reuters. April 29, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  9. ^ Needham, Kirsty; Nebehay, Stephanie (April 21, 2020). "Australia seeks probe into coronavirus spread, France and UK say now not the time". Reuters. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  10. ^ Dziedzic, Stephen (May 20, 2020). "Australia started a fight with China by pushing for a COVID-19 inquiry — was it necessary?". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  11. ^ "WHO | Pneumonia of unknown cause – China". WHO.
  12. ^ Gan, Nectar; Hu, Caitlin; Watson, Ivan (12 April 2020). "China imposes restrictions on research into origins of coronavirus". CNN. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  13. ^ Manson, Katrina; Yu, Sun (April 26, 2020). "US and Chinese researchers team up for hunt into Covid origins". Financial Times. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  14. ^ Hua, Sha (8 December 2020). "China Floats Covid-19 Theories That Point to Foreign Origins, Frozen Food". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  15. ^ Lipton, Eric; Sanger, David E.; Haberman, Maggie; Shear, Michael D.; Mazzetti, Mark; Barnes, Julian E. (11 April 2020). "He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump's Failure on the Virus". New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 April 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  16. ^ "OSTP Coronavirus Request to NASEM" (PDF). www.nationalacademies.org.
  17. ^ Campbell, Josh; Atwood, Kylie; Perez, Evan (16 April 2020). "US explores possibility that coronavirus spread started in Chinese lab, not a market". CNN. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  18. ^ Dilanian, Ken; Kube, Courtney (16 April 2020). "U.S. spies probing if coronavirus emerged accidentally from China lab". NBC News. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  19. ^ MITCHELL, ELLEN (May 5, 2020). "Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman says evidence suggests coronavirus was not man-made or released from lab". The Hill. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  20. ^ a b Tang, Didi (January 4, 2021). "Biological weapons lab leaked coronavirus, claims US official". The Times. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  21. ^ Nakamura, David; Leonnig, Carol D.; Nakashima, Ellen (April 29, 2020). "Matthew Pottinger faced Communist China's intimidation as a reporter. He's now at the White House shaping Trump's hard line policy toward Beijing". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  22. ^ "Fact Sheet: Activity at the Wuhan Institute of Virology". United States Department of State. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  23. ^ MacDiarmid, Campbell (January 16, 2021). "Wuhan lab staff were first victims of coronavirus, says US". The Telegraph. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  24. ^ "WHO-convened Global Study of the Origins of SARS-CoV-2". www.who.int.
  25. ^ Mallapaty, Smriti (December 2, 2020). "Meet the scientists investigating the origins of the COVID pandemic". Nature. 588 (7837): 208–208. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-03402-1 – via www.nature.com.
  26. ^ Nebehay, Stephanie; Skydsgaard, Nikolaj (December 16, 2020). "Exclusive: WHO-led team expected in China in January to probe COVID-19 origins - experts". Reuters. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  27. ^ Hinshaw, Drew (6 January 2021). "WHO Criticizes China for Stymying Investigation Into Covid-19 Origins". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  28. ^ Regan, Helen; Sidhu, Sandi (6 January 2021). "WHO team blocked from entering China to study origins of coronavirus". CNN. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  29. ^ Shepherd, Christian (6 January 2021). "China blocks WHO team sent to probe Covid's origins". Financial Times. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  30. ^ "China blocks entry to WHO team studying Covid's origins". the Guardian. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  31. ^ "WHO coronavirus investigation team to arrive in China on Thursday". South China Morning Post. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  32. ^ "China: WHO experts arriving Thursday for virus origins probe". ABC News. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  33. ^ "China reports biggest daily COVID-19 case jump in over 5 months". Reuters. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  34. ^ a b Nebehay, Stephanie (January 18, 2021). "U.S. and China clash at WHO over scientific mission in Wuhan". Reuters. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  35. ^ Nebehay, Stephanie (November 10, 2020). "U.S. denounces terms for WHO-led inquiry into COVID origins". Reuters. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  36. ^ Pompeo, Michael R. (15 Jan 2021). "Ensuring a Transparent, Thorough Investigation of COVID-19's Origin - United States Department of State". United States Department of State. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  37. ^ Sachs, Jeffrey D.; Karim, Salim Abdool; Aknin, Lara; Allen, Joseph; Brosbøl, Kirsten; Barron, Gabriela Cuevas; Daszak, Peter; Espinosa, María Fernanda; Gaspar, Vitor; Gaviria, Alejandro; Haines, Andy; Hotez, Peter; Koundouri, Phoebe; Bascuñán, Felipe Larraín; Lee, Jong-Koo; Pate, Muhammad; Polman, Paul; Reddy, Srinath; Serageldin, Ismail; Shah, Raj; Thwaites, John; Vike-Freiberga, Vaira; Wang, Chen; Were, Miriam Khamadi; Xue, Lan; Zhu, Min; Bahadur, Chandrika; Bottazzi, Maria Elena; Amor, Yanis Ben; Barredo, Lauren; Caman, Ozge Karadag; Lafortune, Guillaume; Torres, Emma; Ethridge, Ismini; Bartels, Juliana G. E. (October 10, 2020). "Lancet COVID-19 Commission Statement on the occasion of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly". The Lancet. 396 (10257): 1102–1124. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31927-9. PMID 32941825 – via www.thelancet.com.
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