China hopes that experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) will pay more attention to the theory that the coronavirus was brought to Wuhan along with frozen food and did not appear due to a leak from a laboratory, Report informs, citing TASS.
"The Chinese side has received information that Director-General Tedros Adanom Ghebreyesus and WHO have developed a plan for a new stage of studying the origin of the coronavirus. We are studying the draft of this document, " said the official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Zhao Lijian, commenting on the WHO's intention to conduct the second stage of research to study the origin of the coronavirus.
"Our position on this issue has not changed: all parties should respect the opinion of scientists and not politicize research on the origin of the coronavirus," the diplomat added.
"A leak from the laboratory is extremely unlikely. We will have to deeply understand the role of the cold chain (frozen products) and other elements. It should become the basis for a new stage of studying the origin of the coronavirus," Zhao Lijian said.
According to him, the Chinese authorities showed transparency and provided experts with all the necessary information. "During the visit of the WHO expert mission, China provided them with the specified initial information. Experts have repeatedly stated that they have received a fairly large amount of information and expressed their understanding that certain data that affect people's data cannot be copied or taken away by them," the diplomat concluded.
Yesterday, the WHO Director-General Tedros Adanom Ghebreyesus said that the organization is preparing for the second stage of studying the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and expects transparency from the Chinese authorities. He noted that the first phase faced specific problems. One of them he called "access to data, especially to data on the beginning of the pandemic."