World No Closer to Answer on COVID Origins Despite WHO Probe - Expert

A logo is pictured on the headquarters of the World Health Orgnaization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
A logo is pictured on the headquarters of the World Health Orgnaization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
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World No Closer to Answer on COVID Origins Despite WHO Probe - Expert

A logo is pictured on the headquarters of the World Health Orgnaization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
A logo is pictured on the headquarters of the World Health Orgnaization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

Despite a high-profile visit to China by a team of international experts in January, the world is no closer to knowing the origins of COVID-19, according to one of the authors of an open letter calling for a new investigation into the pandemic.

"At this point we are no further advanced than we were a year ago," said Nikolai Petrovsky, an expert in vaccines at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, and one of 26 global experts who signed the open letter, published on Thursday.

In January, a team of scientists picked by the World Health Organization (WHO) visited hospitals and research institutes in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the coronavirus was identified, in search of clues about the origins of COVID-19.

But the mission has come under fire, with critics accusing the WHO of relying too much on politically compromised Chinese fieldwork and data.

Team members also said China was reluctant to share vital data that could show COVID-19 was circulating months earlier than first recognized.

The open letter said the WHO mission "did not have the mandate, the independence, or the necessary accesses to carry out a full and unrestricted investigation" into all theories about the origins of COVID-19.

"All possibilities remain on the table and I have yet to see a single piece of independent scientific data that rules out any of them," said Petrovsky.

At a press briefing to mark the end of the WHO visit to Wuhan, mission head Peter Ben Embarek appeared to rule out the possibility that the virus leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan.

But Petrovsky said it "doesn't make any sense" to rule any possibility out, and said the aim of the open letter was "to get an acknowledgement globally that no one has yet identified the source of the virus and we need to keep searching."

"We need an open mind and if we close down some avenues because they are considered too sensitive, that is not how science operates," he said.



US Declares South Africa's Ambassador Persona Non Grata

FILE - South Africa's ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool speaks at the South African Embassy in Washington, Dec. 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
FILE - South Africa's ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool speaks at the South African Embassy in Washington, Dec. 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
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US Declares South Africa's Ambassador Persona Non Grata

FILE - South Africa's ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool speaks at the South African Embassy in Washington, Dec. 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
FILE - South Africa's ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool speaks at the South African Embassy in Washington, Dec. 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday declared Ebrahim Rasool, South Africa's ambassador to the US, persona non grata, calling the envoy a "race-baiting politician" who hates America and President Donald Trump.
"South Africa's Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country," Rubio said in a post on social media platform X. "We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA," Rubio said.
Rasool presented his credentials to then-President Joe Biden on January 13, a week before Trump took office, marking the start of the envoy's tenure, according to the South African embassy's website. It said this was Rasool's second stint in Washington.
The US State Department and South Africa's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation, posted on X that the government "will engage through the diplomatic channel."
Ties between the United States and South Africa have deteriorated since Trump cut US financial aid to the country, citing disapproval of its land policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington's ally Israel.
Trump has said, without citing evidence, that "South Africa is confiscating land" and that "certain classes of people" are being treated "very badly."
South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, who is close to Trump, has said white South Africans have been the victims of "racist ownership laws."
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law a bill in January aimed at making it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest, in some cases without compensating the owner.
Ramaphosa has defended the policy and said the government had not confiscated any land. The policy was aimed at evening out racial disparities in land ownership in the Black-majority nation, he said.