No good evidence yet proving COVID came from animals, says former head of China CDC

[April 14, 2023]  LONDON (Reuters) - There is no evidence as yet that proves the COVID-causing virus came from animals, George Gao, former head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday.

Gao, who was speaking at a London summit on preparing for pandemics, was the head of the agency when COVID first emerged in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019.

“Even now, people think some animals are the host or reservoir,” said Gao. “Cut a long story short, there is no evidence which animals [were] where the virus comes [from].”

(Reporting by Jennifer Rigby in London, additional reporting by Natalie Grover in London; Editing by Toby Chopra)

A man wearing a protective face mask walks past an illustration of a virus outside a regional science centre, as the city and surrounding areas face local restrictions in an effort to avoid a local lockdown being forced upon the region, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Oldham, Britain August 3, 2020. REUTERS/Phil Noble

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