China didn’t withhold data on the origin of Covid-19 virus: Official

WHO chief had said that international experts struggled to access raw information during their four-week visit to Wuhan

A top Chinese official on Wednesday dismissed accusations that China did not share all data with the World Health Organization (WHO)-appointed researchers tracing the origin of the Covid-19 virus.

In this photo taken on January 25, 2020 medical staff wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city, arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in China. (AFP)

The denial comes a day after the publication of the WHO-China joint report on the origins of Covid-19, following which WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Beijing withheld relevant data from the team of scientists who visited Wuhan in January.

Tedros was quoted as saying the investigation was “not extensive enough” and that experts had struggled to access raw information during their four-week visit to the central Chinese city of Wuhan where the virus first emerged in December, 2019.

Additionally, at least 14 countries, including the US, Australia, Canada, and the Czech Republic, raised concerns over the report released by the WHO on Tuesday into the origin of the coronavirus, citing delays and a lack of full access to data.

Speaking on the report on Wednesday, Liang Wannian, co-leader of the joint study, said Chinese and international researchers had access to the same data throughout the probe period and that the claims 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.”

Rejecting complaints about the report being delayed, Liang said “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, chief of a Covid-19 experts’ committee set up by the China’s National Health Commission.

Liang had earlier told state media that to “…accomplish the arduous task of scientific cooperation and exchange, the Chinese side brought together the relevant institutions and hundreds of scientists and did their best to collect and collate data and conduct a preliminary analysis”.

Liang said the origin tracing of the virus is a continuous work, adding that further tracing will be carried out around the globe, based on the findings of the study in China.

China was the first country to report Covid-19 cases, so the global tracing of virus origins was first conducted here, Liang said.

Separately, the Chinese foreign ministry on Wednesday called on all parties to respect science and the opinions and conclusions of the WHO report that found it’s extremely unlikely the virus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The WHO said work could also be carried out in laboratories around the world if further evidence was available and needed, ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying said, adding that China hopes that other relevant countries will cooperate with the WHO in the same open and transparent manner as China has done.