The World Health Organization (WHO) has asked China to provide percentage data on the COVID-19 outbreak five years ago.
The coronavirus killed millions of people, locked down billions in their homes, crippled economies and destroyed health systems.
“We continue to ask China to share knowledge so we can understand the origins of COVID-19. “This is an ethical and clinical imperative,” the WHO said in a statement.
“Without transparency, exchange and cooperation between countries, the world will be adequately saved and prepared for epidemics and pandemics in the long term. “
The WHO recounted how on December 31, 2019, its local office in China won a health government lawsuit in the central city of Wuhan over cases of “viral pneumonia. ”
“In the weeks, months and years since, COVID-19 has taken over our lives and our world,” the UN fitness company said.
“As we mark this milestone, let’s take a moment to honour the lives changed and lost, recognise those who are suffering from COVID-19 and Long COVID, express gratitude to the health workers who sacrificed so much to care for us, and commit to learning from COVID-19 to build a healthier tomorrow.”
Beijing said on Tuesday that it had shared information about the coronavirus “without hiding anything”.
“Five years ago. . . China promptly shared data on the outbreak and viral gene series with the WHO and the foreign community. Without hiding anything, we share our experience in prevention and treatment, thus making a massive contribution. to the work of the foreign community in fighting the pandemic,” said Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the WHO, more than 760 million COVID-19 cases and 6.9 million deaths have been recorded worldwide.
In mid-2023, he declared the end of COVID-19 a public health emergency, but said the disease would be a permanent reminder of the possibility of new viruses emerging with devastating consequences.
Data from the early days of the pandemic was uploaded via Chinese scientists to a foreign database in early 2023, months after China dismantled all its COVID-19 restrictions and reopened its borders to the rest of the world.
The data showed that DNA from several animal species, including raccoon dogs, showed up in environmental samples that tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID, suggesting they were “the most likely conduits” for the disease, according to one study. Report. Team of foreign investigators.
In 2021, a WHO-led team spent weeks in and around Wuhan – where the first cases were detected – and said the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal, but further research was needed.
China said that no further visits were necessary and that the search for the first instances would be carried out in other countries.
Earlier this month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addressed the question of whether the world is better prepared for the next pandemic than for COVID-19.
“The answer is yes and no,” he told a press conference. “If the next pandemic arrived today the world would still face some of the same weaknesses and vulnerabilities that gave COVID-19 a foothold five years ago.
“But the world has also learned many of the painful lessons that the pandemic has taught us and has taken vital steps to defend itself against epidemics and pandemics in the long term. »
In December 2021, frightened by the devastation caused by COVID, countries began drafting an agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
The 194 WHO member states negotiating the treaty have agreed on the maximum of what it includes, but remain deadlocked on practicalities.
A key gap is between Western countries with giant pharmaceutical sectors and poorer countries worried about being left in the next pandemic.