The United States views the previous stage of the research into origins of the coronavirus initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “inconclusive” and calls to move to phase 2 with the study again carried out in China, the US Mission to the UN Geneva Office said in a statement issued on Thursday.
“Phase 1 of the WHO-convened COVID-19 origins study was insufficient and inconclusive. We call for a timely, transparent, evidence-based, and expert-led Phase 2 study, including in the People’s Republic of China. It is critical that China provides independent experts full access to complete, original data and samples relevant to understanding the source of the virus and the early stages of the pandemic. We appreciate the WHO’s stated commitment to move forward with Phase 2 of the COVID-19 origins study, and look forward to an update from Director General Tedros,” the mission noted.