Share Covid data, WHO tells China

The World Health Organization has called on China to share data on the origins of the Covid pandemic, five years after it began in the city of Wuhan.

“This is a moral and scientific imperative,” the WHO said in a statement to mark what it called a “milestone” anniversary.

“Without transparency, sharing and cooperation between countries, the world cannot adequately prevent and prepare for future epidemics and pandemics,” the message added.

Many scientists believe that the virus was naturally transmitted from animals to humans, but some suspect that it escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan.

In its statement, the WHO went back to the early days of Covid and traced its evolution from a local phenomenon to a global scourge that led to worldwide lockdowns and the eventual successful race to develop vaccines.

“Five years ago, on 31 December 2019, the WHO Country Office in China took a press release from the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission on their website about cases of ‘viral pneumonia’ in Wuhan, China,” the organization said.

“In the weeks, months and years that followed, Covid-19 began to shape our lives and our world,” it continued.

The WHO said it was “moving to work immediately” as 2020 approaches. He recalled how his staff activated emergency systems on January 1 and informed the world three days later.

“By January 9-12, WHO published its first set of comprehensive recommendations for countries, and on January 13, we gathered partners to publish a plan for the first laboratory test for Sars-CoV-2,” the message added.

The WHO said it wanted to “honour the lives changed and lost, recognize those affected by Covid-19 and ongoing Covid, show gratitude to the health workers who have sacrificed so much to care for us, and commit to learning from Covid-19 to build a healthier tomorrow.”

The WHO announced this in May 2023 Covid-19 is no longer a ‘global emergency’.

Its director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said at the time that at least seven million people had died as a result of the pandemic.

But he added that the true figure was “probably” closer to 20 million deaths – almost three times the official estimate.

Since then, the WHO has repeatedly warned against complacency about the possible future emergence of diseases similar to Covid.

Dr. Gebreyes said the next pandemic “could strike at any moment” and urged the world to be prepared.