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 Following the publication of the joint study into the origins of
COVID-19 by China and the WHO on Tuesday, WHO Director General
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said China had withheld data from the
international investigators.
But Liang Wannian, who was co-leader of the joint study, told
reporters that researchers from both sides had access to the same
data throughout the investigation and that the assertions about lack
of access were not accurate.
"Of course, according to Chinese law, some data cannot be taken away
or photographed, but when we were analysing it together in Wuhan,
everyone could see the database, the materials - it was all done
together," he said.
Responding to allegations that the expert panel did not have access
to complete datasets and samples, Liang said no scientist ever had
perfect information.
He also rejected complaints that the publication of the report had
been repeatedly delayed, noting that "every sentence, every
conclusion, every piece of data" needed to be verified by both sides
before it could be released.
"Throughout we always upheld the principle of 'quality comes
first,'" said Liang, who is the head of a committee of experts on
COVID-19 set up by China's National Health Commission.
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 The joint study concluded that
the most likely origin of COVID-19 was in
animals, and probably passed through an
intermediary species before it entered humans.
It also said more efforts were needed to see if COVID-19 could be
traced back to wildlife farms in both China and southeast Asia.
Liang said China would continue to try to trace the origins of
COVID-19, but the Chinese part of the joint research had been
completed, and attention should now turn to other countries.
Tracing the origins of COVID-19 couldn't be achieved overnight, he
said.
"There are lots of diseases that have circulated for a long time and
we still haven't found their origins," he said. "It still needs a
lot of time."
(Reporting by Gabriel Crossley; Writing by David Stanway; Editing by
William Maclean and Andrew Heavens)
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