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GENEVA :
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that all available evidence suggests that the new coronavirus originated from animals in China late last year and was not handled or produced in a laboratory.
United States President Donald Trump said last week that his government was trying to determine if the virus emanated from a laboratory in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus pandemic emerged in December.
“All available evidence suggests that the virus is of animal origin and is not manipulated or built in a laboratory or elsewhere,” WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said at a press conference in Geneva. “It is probable, probable, that the virus is of animal origin.”
It was unclear, Chaib added, how the virus had bypassed the species barrier to humans, but “certainly” there had been an intermediate animal host. “Most likely, it has its ecological reservoir in bats, but it remains to be seen and discovered how the virus came from bats to humans.”
She did not respond to a request to explain whether the virus could have inadvertently escaped from a laboratory. The Wuhan Institute of Virology dismissed rumors that he synthesized the virus or allowed him to escape.
Asked about the impact of Trump’s decision last week to suspend funding to the UN agency over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Chaib said: “We are still evaluating the situation on President Trump’s announcement … and we will assess the situation and work with our partners to fill any gaps. “
“It is very important to continue what we are doing not only for COVID but also for many, many, many, many other health programs,” he added, referring to action against polio, HIV and malaria, among other diseases.
She said WHO received 81 percent funding for the next two years in late March, referring to its biennial budget of $ 4.8 billion. The United States is the largest donor to the Geneva-based agency. Other major contributors are the Gates Foundation and Great Britain.
