A Chinese scientist has claimed that Covid-19 may have originated from humans. A Beijing University-based scientist found a similarity between genetic sequences of viral samples taken from Wuhan's seafood market and patients infected with coronavirus, suggesting that Covid may have originated from humans. Wuhan's Huanan Seafood Market was considered the ground zero site of the pandemic so far.
In a report by CNN, Tong Yigang of the Beijing University of Chemical Technology said more than 1,300 environmental and frozen animal samples had been taken at the market between January 2020 and March 2020, and researchers had isolated three strains of virus from the environmental samples.
Tongo also said there are not enough pieces of evidence to back up recent studies that had suggested raccoon dogs were the origin of the Covid-19 virus.
Another Chinese scientist Zhou Lei called for global scientific collaboration in tracing the origins of the virus, saying that the site where Covid-19 was first discovered was not necessarily where it originated.
China has received a barrage of criticism for blocking international investigations into the origins of the Covid-19 virus. Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it still did not have key data from China about the beginnings of the Covid outbreak. The UN Health body stated that a lack of disclosure the head of its program on emerging diseases said was "simply inexcusable".
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently (local time) said that the organization will continue pushing until it finds an answer to how the COVID-19 pandemic started, following a report suggesting it had abandoned the search.
Ghebreyesus in January spoke with Minister Ma Xiaowei, director of China's National Health Commission about the Covid-19 situation in the country and sought deeper cooperation on the origins of the pandemic.
However, China has reiterated that it was always transparent and cooperative in sharing the data with the WHO.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, debates have constantly reemerged over the origin of the Covid-19 virus. Last month an assessment by the US Department of Energy stated that Covid reemerged because of an accident in a laboratory. But the US agency also marked it as a “low confidence” determination.
However, Chinese scientists have refuted the lab leak theory, saying it is “extremely unlikely.”
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.