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Vytenis Andriukaitis, the World Health Organization (WHO) Special Envoy to the European Region, does not believe that intelligence should be accepted for cash. He agrees that the new information may lead to a change of opinion about the origin of COVID-19, but it is already clear that the security of virological laboratories must be strengthened and the international community must work more closely on the management of the virus.
If we cannot reach an agreement, he said, we will see tragic consequences in the future.
What does the new information change?
“Intelligence data is the object of analysis in each country. WHO sent missions. This problem has been addressed by the best experts in the world. I believe that if there were reliable data that made it necessary to review the conclusions of previous commissions, could do.
But at the moment there are no official conclusions from the United States addressed to the WHO, “V. Andriukaitis said on the Lietuvos Rytas television program” New Day “on Thursday.
He argued that intelligence reliability is accompanied by complex problems. The WHO envoy recalled that during the Iraq war, intelligence had shown that Saddam Hussein’s regime had bacteriological and chemical weapons and that it had already managed to use them. “But after the invasion it was not detected,” said V. Andriukaitis.
Tighter regulation awaits you
He is confident that the safety of laboratories working with viruses will be addressed even more rigorously due to the experience of the pandemic. This will be reflected in the regulation of virus laboratories.
“It is now clear that the international regulatory mechanism to fight infections is too weak. That is why now the European Commission and a group of independent experts have suggested that we need a new pandemic management agreement for the world, which would be strict and even more legally binding for all the countries of the world ”, affirmed V. Andriukaitis, the adopted regulation is“ too weak and does not work ”.
He noted the adoption of the Rome Declaration at last week’s G20 summit, which marked an important step forward in incorporating complementary mechanisms into the existing international regulatory framework.
However, there are also feelings of frustration, as there was no agreement on the need for a new global convention on pandemics.
“It is a pity that there are countries that do not agree with that,” lamented V. Andriukaitis, adding that an agreement could be adopted in the autumn that establishes a strict virus management strategy. It would establish a new mandatory period for a country to notify the world community of a new outbreak of a disease in its territory.
What if the virus turns out to have “escaped” from the lab?
When asked what would change if it turned out that the coronavirus had actually “escaped” from the lab, the interviewee said this would reinforce the need to address security breaches.
“This issue would be related to the introduction of a new regulatory regulation and the establishment of new rules in one way or another,” said V. Andriukaitis, explaining that he could not comment on the aspects of international relations, since this is not his area of competence.
“Obviously, this coronavirus belongs to a family of viruses that have two hosts throughout the animal: an animal and a human. It is obvious that without the introduction of much stricter rules in the future, it will be difficult to manage outbreaks or even identify the exact foci of these outbreaks, ”predicted the WHO representative.
According to him, determining the origin of the virus requires a great effort from scientists and experts in various fields.
“Virologists, epidemiologists and geneticists know very well that the pathways and sources of the virus and its development are complex. As a result, all commissions are supplemented with specialists in many fields, since the path of transmission of the infection is very complicated. It is necessary to trace how the infection of animal origin enters the human body ”, explained V. Andriukaitis.
According to him, data from mathematical models, intelligence and surveys are also necessary to determine the origin and route of spread of the virus.
V. Andriukaitis did not dare to question the conclusions adopted by the commissions that were already functioning. However, he added that the question of the origin of the coronavirus could not be closed. If new data were to accumulate, then “even more professionals from different fields would be used.”
The President of the United States has taken action
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday ordered the country’s intelligence services to report within three months whether the pandemic coronavirus, first detected in China, had spread or spread from humans to any animal. propagated from the lab.
The agencies should “redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information that can bring us closer to a final conclusion and inform me [apie taip] within 90 days, ”Biden said in a White House statement.
According to Biden, agencies have not yet fully determined which of the two possible sources was the true COVID-19 pandemic, which has cost more than 3.4 million people worldwide since the end of 2019, causing human lives. According to experts, the actual number of victims of the pandemic is much higher than the official one.
Biden’s order marks a growing controversy over the origins of the new coronavirus. It is believed that it could have been infected by people who came into contact with animals in a market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, or the infection could have spread from a virology laboratory in the same city.
If this question could be answered clearly, it could have huge consequences both for China, which says it is not responsible for the pandemic, and for US policy, as the premise that the virus spreads from the laboratory had become a tool for Republicans to lobby. in Beijing.
Biden said he had asked for a report on the origin of the virus in March and asked him to find out “whether it was spread by human contact with the infected animal or by a laboratory accident.”
“Currently, the US intelligence community has” focused on two plausible scenarios, “but has not reached a final conclusion on the issue,” the president added.
