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The World Health Organization (WHO) settled this Monday in the versions that indicate that the coronavirus causing covid-19 originated in a laboratory in China by confirming that this pathogen “is of animal origin,” contrary to what it claims since days ago the United States Government.
(In context: The United States ensures that there are “enormous tests” of the origin of coronavirus in the laboratory)
“The coronavirus circulates ancestrally among bats, it is something we know based on the genetic sequence of this virus. What we need to understand is which has been the animal that acted as an intermediary, that is, it was infected by bats and transmitted it to humans.“said the head of the WHO Department of Emerging Diseases, Maria Van Kerkhove.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has publicly said that the SARS CoV-2 coronavirus originated in a laboratory in Wuhan (site of the first epidemic outbreak), which this Sunday reaffirmed his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, who added that the government has “a tremendous amount of evidence” of this.
(Recommendations: Nicolás Maduro proposes to nominate the WHO for the Nobel Peace Prize)
“From all the evidence we have seen of all the genetic sequences that are available, and I think there are more than 15,000, this virus has a natural origin”Van Kerkhove said at a virtual press conference.
WHO Executive Director for Health Emergencies, Mike Ryan, stressed that EE. USA it has not shared with the organization the evidence it claims to have. “From our perspective this is speculative and like any evidence-based organization, we would very much like to receive any information regarding the origin of the virus,” he added.
The doctor insisted that while EE USA do not share this supposed information “we focus on what we know, on the evidence we have and that indicates that the virus is of animal origin”.
(Also read: Campaign raises € 7.4 billion for covid-19 vaccine)
Massive events
In another excerpt from the press conference, senior officials in the fight to contain the pandemic said the WHO has made available a guide for governments to assess the risks of mass meetings now that several countries, especially in Europe, they gradually begin to lower social quarantine measures.
Van Kerkhove argued that in order to make an official decision in this regard, several criteria will have to be considered, such as the number of people who will meet, the planned location, and assess whether the meeting cannot be held virtually or postponed.
A general decision is discouraged, but rather reflect on the risks case by case and depending on whether or not the virus is circulating in the area. “We can’t tell each country what to do in each context, but if there are meetings you have to consider whether you can keep the distance between people and the hygiene measures that will be available,” Ryan added.
(Further: Four countries in Europe begin the de-escalation of confinement)
Pharmacy sales test
At a time when coronavirus cases have exceeded 3.4 million worldwide, rapid diagnostic tests have reached many countries through commercial channels to be sold in pharmacies freely and so that people can make the diagnosis themselves in their houses.
On the reliability of these tests and the danger of false negatives, Van Kerkhove said that there are “hundreds” of types of tests for coronavirus that are being sold around the world and that obviously “there are risks associated with tests that are sold in every corner. ”
He stressed that “The most important thing is that it has been verified that the tests that are sold really work well”, a guarantee that can only be given by the validation of the health authorities.
“You have to make sure that the result is true since the risk is that there are false positives or, worse, false negatives, which means that one can be infected (and therefore infect others) despite the fact that the test says no It is, “he said.
EFE