'Not sharing Covid-19 data inexcusable': WHO slams China

New Delhi: The World Health Organisation (WHO) once again came down on China, saying that the country should have shared samples from Wuhan, where the Covid-19 virus originated, immediately and not three years later, IANS reported.

WHO's technical lead for Covid-19 response, Maria Van Kerkhove, wrote in the journal 'Science' that WHO had learned that scientists in China possessed data on viral samples from Wuhan that had been gathered in January 2020.

"These should have been shared immediately, not three years later. The lack of data disclosure is simply inexcusable," she said.

The global health agency keeps asking China and other countries to share data on the origins of SARS-CoV-2 immediately.

Kerkhove wrote, "China has advanced technical capabilities, and I, therefore, believe that more data exist that have yet to be shared -- on the wild and farmed animal trade; the testing of humans and animals in Wuhan and across China; the operations of labs in Wuhan working on coronaviruses; the earliest potential cases; and more."

According to her, the world must move away from politics of blame and use all diplomatic and scientific approaches, making the global scientific community collaborate. Thus they could find evidence-based solutions to fight future pandemics.

China made the Covid-19 disease official on December 31, 2019. But, Even more than three years later, the origin of Covid-19 is still unclear.

Last month, US President Joe Biden signed a bill to declassify intelligence information on the origins of the Covid pandemic, which has so far claimed more than seven million lives globally.

Under the new legislation, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines has 90 days to declassify all information on possible links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origins of Covid-19.