COVID-19 originates in nature, WHO says

Tributes paid to Wuhan residents for their resilience

In a clear rebuke to United States President Donald Trump, the World Health Organization, or WHO, reiterated on Friday that the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease originates in nature.

On Thursday Trump said he had seen strong evidence that the virus originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, despite a statement from the US intelligence community, concurring with the scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not man-made or genetically modified.

"We listened again and again to numerous scientists who looked at the sequences and looked at this virus. And we are assured that this virus is natural in origin," Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, told a virtual press conference from Geneva.

He emphasized the importance of establishing the natural host of the virus, in order to better understand it, the interface between animals and humans, and how that barrier had been breached.

"The purpose of understanding that is that we can put in place the necessary prevention and public health measures to prevent that happening again anywhere," he said.

The International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on COVID-19, which met on Thursday, advised the WHO to work to identify the animal source of the coronavirus through international scientific collaborative work, alongside the World Organization for Animal Health and Food and Agriculture Organization. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organization accepted this advice.

When asked by a reporter if the WHO regretted announcing the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the highest level of alert, too late, on Jan 30 rather than at its Jan 22-23 meeting, Tedros expressed that the declaration was made in a timely fashion, allowing enough time for the rest of the world to respond, because by Jan 30, there were only 82 cases and no deaths outside China. "The world had enough time to intervene," Tedros said.

His words were echoed by French scientist Didier Houssin, chairman of the Emergency Committee.

He said that previously, the WHO had been accused for declaring emergency too early before major disease outbreaks, such as the H1N1 outbreak in 2009, and later the Ebola virus. On Jan 23, there were only four cases outside China, and committee members were divided on declaring a PHEIC. However, the WHO still recommended a series of measures for countries to get prepared. Defending the Jan 30 declaration, Houssain said "WHO decided in a timely manner."

Trump has repeated the WHO of failing to warn the world early enough about the pandemic, an accusation widely viewed as a distraction from his own domestic mismanagement of the issue.

At Friday's conference, Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead of WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said it was "very very welcome news" to hear that there were no more severe cases and no more patients of COVID-19 in Wuhan.

"China has worked very hard to bring the outbreak under control," said Van Kerkhove, a US scientist who spent two weeks in China during the peak of the outbreak. She said she was working directly with ministry officials and officials from all different sectors, such as hospitals and communities, to see what has been put in place to bring those numbers down.

She said the world has learned from China as it has learned from all countries over how they are dealing with COVID-19. It is necessary to continue to learn lessons from Wuhan, she said, such as how lockdown measures are being lifted and how to bring society back to normal, or establish a new normal, in terms of living with this virus going forward.

Van Kerkhove thanked healthcare workers who put themselves on the frontlines to care for patients, away from their own families, and preventing those infected with COVID-19 from dying.

During the outbreak, more than 40,000 healthcare workers were dispatched from all over China to Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital city.

"So nothing but admiration. And thanks for the tireless efforts of the people of Wuhan, not just healthcare workers, but the individuals who stayed in their homes, and who adhered to the public health measures for an extended period of time," she said.

"We take our hats off to you. We thank you for your commitment and your service, and for sharing with us and the world what you have been able to do. So congratulations to Wuhan on this achievement." However, she added that she expected people in the city to remain vigilant in case of any more cases. "This is far from over," she said.