MISSING LINK

WHO Study Says COVID Probably Came From Animals, Not a Lab Accident

An upcoming joint WHO-China study dismisses the lab leak theory as “extremely unlikely.”

Last week, Robert Redfield, the ex-director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, raised eyebrows by sharing his belief that the coronavirus pandemic likely started as a lab accident. However, the World Health Organization thinks he’s got it wrong. The Associated Press has obtained a copy of an upcoming joint WHO-China study, which says that the lab leak theory is “extremely unlikely,” and that the most probable origin of the coronavirus is that it spread from bats to humans through another animal. The report says it’s possible that the virus spread directly from bats, but a third animal seems to have been involved as “the evolutionary distance between these bat viruses and SARS-CoV-2 is estimated to be several decades, suggesting a missing link.” Pangolins, mink, and cats are suggested as possible carriers. The report is largely based largely on WHO visit to Wuhan, China earlier this year.