W.H.O. experts share findings on the origins of the coronavirus
A team of World Health Organization scientists said in China on Tuesday that the coronavirus had probably first spread to humans through an animal and was “extremely unlikely” to have been the result of a lab accident.
The findings were delivered after 12 days of fieldwork by the team in Wuhan, China. There are still months of work ahead to trace the virus’s origins.
Dr. Peter Ben Embarek, a food safety scientist who is leading the team, dismissed the idea that the virus might have emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, a theory that has gained momentum in the U.S. and elsewhere. “It was very unlikely that anything could escape from such a place,” he said, citing safety protocols.
Science and politics: The inquiry is proceeding in a charged political environment. While China cooperated with the visit, the government is still firmly in control of research related to the virus in China and may try to prevent the release of any embarrassing information.
Here are the latest updates and maps of the pandemic.
In other developments:
■ People with dementia are at significantly greater risk of contracting the coronavirus, and are much more likely to be hospitalized and die from it, than people without dementia are, a new study found.
■ Mexico’s total number of deaths from Covid-19 is now the third-highest worldwide, which puts it ahead of India, a nation that is 10 times more populous. Doctors and officials say part of the reason so many more people are dying now is a nationwide shortage of oxygen tanks.
The New York Times