All Covid-19 origin theories still open, after inconclusive study

WHO says lab leak hypothesis cannot be ruled out as needed info was not provided

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GENEVA - All hypotheses on how the Covid-19 pandemic began remain open, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on June 27, following an inconclusive four-year investigation that was hamstrung by crucial information being withheld.

The global catastrophe killed an estimated 20 million people, according to the WHO, while shredding economies, crippling health systems and turning people's lives upside down.

The first cases were detected in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, and understanding where the Sars-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 came from is key to preventing future pandemics.

However, a lengthy investigation launched by the UN's health agency said that pending further data, the origin of Covid-19 and how it first spread remain elusive.

"As things stand, all hypotheses must remain on the table, including zoonotic spillover and lab leak," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference, referring to the two main hypotheses as to how the pandemic began.

An initial WHO-Chinese joint report in March 2021 concluded that the virus most likely jumped from bats to humans via an intermediate animal.