WHO Says it May Be ‘Last Chance’ to Find COVID Origins

The ultrastructural morphology exhibited by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is seen in an illustration released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, US January 29, 2020. (Handout via Reuters)
The ultrastructural morphology exhibited by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is seen in an illustration released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, US January 29, 2020. (Handout via Reuters)
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WHO Says it May Be ‘Last Chance’ to Find COVID Origins

The ultrastructural morphology exhibited by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is seen in an illustration released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, US January 29, 2020. (Handout via Reuters)
The ultrastructural morphology exhibited by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is seen in an illustration released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, US January 29, 2020. (Handout via Reuters)

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday its newly formed advisory group on dangerous pathogens may be “our last chance” to determine the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and called for cooperation from China.

The first human cases of COVID-19 were reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. China has repeatedly dismissed theories that the virus leaked from one of its laboratories and has said no more visits are needed.

A WHO-led team spent four weeks in and around Wuhan earlier this year with Chinese scientists, and said in a joint report in March that the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal but further research was needed.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that the investigation was hampered by a dearth of raw data pertaining to the first days of the outbreak’s spread and has called for lab audits.

The WHO on Wednesday named the 26 proposed members of its Scientific Advisory Group on the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO). They include Marion Koopmans, Thea Fischer, Hung Nguyen and Chinese animal health expert Yang Yungui, who took part in the joint investigation in Wuhan.

Dozens of studies needed
Maria van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead on COVID-19, voiced hope that there would be further WHO-led international missions to China which would engage the country’s cooperation.

She told a news conference that “more than three dozen recommended studies” still needed to be carried out to determine how the virus crossed from the animal species to humans.

Reported Chinese tests for antibodies present in Wuhan residents in 2019 will be “absolutely critical” to understanding the virus’s origins, van Kerkhove said.

Mike Ryan, WHO’s top emergency expert, said the new panel may be the last chance to establish the origin of SARS-CoV-2, “a virus that has stopped our whole world”.

The WHO was seeking to “take a step back, create an environment where we can again look at the scientific issues”, he said.

Chen Xu, China’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, told a separate news conference the conclusions of the joint study were “quite clear,” adding that as international teams had been sent to China twice already, “it is time to send teams to other places.”

“I do believe that if we are going to continue with the scientific research I think it should be a joint effort based on science not by the intelligence agencies,” Chen said. “So if we are going to talk about anything, we are doing the whole business with the framework of SAGO.”



US Envoy Plans to Meet Iran's Foreign Minister on Sunday, US Official Says

This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 and Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)
This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 and Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)
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US Envoy Plans to Meet Iran's Foreign Minister on Sunday, US Official Says

This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 and Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)
This combo shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 and Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff plans to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman on Sunday and discuss Iran's response to a recent American proposal for a nuclear deal, a US official said late on Wednesday.

Iran said on Monday it will soon hand a counter-proposal for a nuclear deal to the United States in response to a US offer that Tehran deems "unacceptable," while US President Donald Trump said talks would continue.

Trump told a podcast on Monday he was less confident that Iran will agree to stop uranium enrichment in a nuclear deal with Washington, Reuters said.

Trump has been seeking a new nuclear deal to place limits on Iran's disputed uranium enrichment activities and has threatened it with bombing if no agreement is reached.

Iran has long said it has no plans to develop nuclear weapons and is only interested in atomic power generation and other peaceful projects.

During his first White House term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed limits on Tehran's uranium enrichment drive in exchange for relief from international sanctions.

Uneasy relations between Iran and the US go back decades. Tehran says Washington has interfered in its affairs, citing events ranging from a 1953 coup against a prime minister to the 2020 killing of its military commander in a US drone strike.

Washington cites Iran's backing of militant groups in the Middle East including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen to say that Iran poses a threat to US ally Israel and Washington's interests in the region.

The militant groups describe themselves as the "Axis of Resistance" to Israeli and US influence in the Middle East.

Trump said on Wednesday US personnel were being moved out of the Middle East because "it could be a dangerous place."

The decision by the US to evacuate some personnel comes at a volatile moment in the region. Trump's efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran appear to be deadlocked and US intelligence indicates that Israel has been making preparations for a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.