‘Important first step’: India supports WHO study on COVID-19 origins

Ministry of External Affairs on Friday has supported the WHO-convened global study on the origins of coronavirus and called it “an important step”, according to a report by ANI.

The MEA said the follow up of the WHO report and further studies deserve understanding and cooperation of all.

This comes after the International Council of Jurists (ICJ) urged the WHO to make public all scientific and medical information regarding the origin of the deadly virus. They believe that the virus had originated from a laboratory in Wuhan and not from the ‘wet market’.

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The MEA further stressed upon the need for next phase studies and sharing of data and studies to reach robust conclusions.

Meanwhile, the US Intelligence Department, on May 27, released a statement and said there was a possibility that either the “virus emerged naturally from human contact with infected animals or it was a laboratory accident.”

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The first case of COVID-19 was reported from China’s Wuhan in December, 2019 and since then there have been 168,599,045 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally, including 3,507,477 deaths, reported to WHO. 

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The US is the worst-affected by the deadly virus and so far 33.2 million people have contracted the virus. The death toll due to COVID-19 in the US is 593,293. India is second worldwide with 27.6 million cases and 318,895 people have lost their lives since the outbreak.