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**Summary:**

The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to investigate the origins of COVID-19 but is facing challenges due to a lack of critical information. Despite a report from its advisory group, SAGO, pointing towards a zoonotic origin (animal to human transmission), the WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, insists that all hypotheses, including the possibility of a lab leak, remain on the table. He urges China and other countries to share relevant information to prevent future pandemics. While SAGO found no evidence of lab manipulation and believes the virus didn’t spread outside China before December 2019, they couldn’t rule out the lab leak theory due to lack of access to data. The WHO emphasizes the critical need to understand the origin of COVID-19 to prevent similar future global crises.

**News Article:**

**WHO Chief Demands Transparency as COVID-19 Origin Remains a Mystery**

**GENEVA** – The World Health Organization (WHO) is intensifying its call for transparency as the source of the COVID-19 pandemic remains unresolved. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that “all hypotheses must remain on the table” regarding the virus’s origin, even after a report from the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) suggested zoonotic transmission as the most likely scenario.

The SAGO report, released Friday, indicated that the novel coronavirus likely jumped from animals to humans. However, according to SAGO chair Marietjie Venter, the group was unable to fully investigate the possibility of a lab leak due to the Chinese government’s failure to provide necessary data, despite repeated requests.

“We continue to appeal to China and any other country that has information about the origins of COVID-19 to share that information openly,” Tedros urged, emphasizing the need to protect the world from future pandemics.

The initial outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, has made the country a focal point in the search for the virus’s origin. A previous joint WHO-China investigation in 2021 also leaned towards zoonotic transmission but was criticized for lacking transparency and dismissing the lab leak theory prematurely.

While SAGO found no evidence to support lab manipulation of the virus or its spread outside China before December 2019, the inconclusive nature of their investigation highlights the critical need for greater access and transparency.

Understanding the genesis of COVID-19, which has claimed at least 20 million lives and caused trillions of dollars in economic damage, is a “moral imperative,” according to Tedros. He stressed that uncovering the source of the virus is essential to preventing future outbreaks and mitigating the global impact of potential pandemics.

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