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US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

reuters.com

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Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#11

Post by mgamache »

mgamache wrote: post #6
mc32 wrote: post #3

Beside the danger of adding function to an infectious virus, the biggest danger is the complete politicization of the virus. The WHO has changed their tune back and forth, often vehemently with little to back up its position. In that light the US should consider withdrawing completely from this body.

The US just rejoined after Biden reversed Trumps withdrawal.

Here's one article about the Who reversal:

"The scientific community applauded President Joe Biden's decision to rejoin the World Health Organization and other global efforts designed to stop and prevent COVID-19."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/01/22/scient...

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#12

Post by f430 »

renewiltord wrote: post #5

The WHO is a useless organization. For political reasons, it will be necessary to engage, but hopefully US authorities will not treat it as an information source. The US should use its own primary sources in future to evaluate disease spread. China will lie to the WHO and the WHO will protect it. But to know the truth, we should use our modern equivalents of Key Hole. There is no truth but that which you have examine…

> China will lie to the WHO and the WHO will protect it.

No idea why you are being downvoted for speaking the truth.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#13

Post by bpodgursky »

mgamache wrote: post #11
mgamache wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US just rejoined after Biden reversed Trumps withdrawal.

Here's one article about the Who reversal: "The scientific community applauded President Joe Biden's decision to rejoin the World Health Organization and other global efforts designed to stop and prevent COVID-19." https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/01/22/scient...

HN is reflexive with downvotes. It's not personal.

A response of "Trump did thing, Biden undid thing" after a comment of "US should do thing" can be interpreted as support of Trump and criticism of Biden.

This is not a good thing to be true. Thus, it is downvoted.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#14

Post by rossdavidh »

So, perhaps there is a valid reason for China to refuse to give the raw data on early COVID-19 victims to the WHO, but I have to say, as a reader who's never been particularly impressed by the possibility of it being lab-created, I have to say this is not a good look for China.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#16

Post by f430 »

mgamache wrote: post #9
dm319 wrote: post #2

This is worth a read: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9

This was from early last year and really focuses on Pangolins which have been downgraded as a zoonotic source. Serial Passage is the most likely source (as all sources are low probability).

The thing is they claimed it originated from the seafood market yet couple blocks across the street there was a BS4 bio lab literally working with the materials.

It's amazing so many people will just take CCP's narrative at face value, there are still many that think it came from the seafood market.

Nature has lied to protect the CCP before:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/world/asia/china-springer...

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#17

Post by f430 »

mgamache wrote: post #4

Related: China refused to provide WHO team with raw data on early COVID cases, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-ch...

If the CCP is innocent why not prove it to the world by sharing their data? Why hide things?

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#18

Post by addicted »

mc32 wrote: post #3

Beside the danger of adding function to an infectious virus, the biggest danger is the complete politicization of the virus. The WHO has changed their tune back and forth, often vehemently with little to back up its position. In that light the US should consider withdrawing completely from this body.

The WHO is not an organization with a military or the power to enforce anything. It’s completely at the mercy of the member states to pressure each other to allow it to do its job.

The reality is that it was up to the member states to pressure China in early 2020 to release the information they should have shared. And as the only member state as large or larger than China, this was the US’s job. At the time, however, the Trump administration was entirely focused on closing a trade deal with China that Trump could use in his election campaign. Which is why the US said nothing which prevented the WHO from getting the support they needed to investigate the origins of the pandemic.

For the first few months the US, and especially Trump, was basically going on about how well Xi Jinping was handling everything.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#19

Post by throwawaysea »

From https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00375-7

> Dwyer says that the team didn’t see anything during its visits to suggest a lab accident. “Now, whether we were shown everything? You can never know. The group wasn’t designed to go and do a forensic examination of lab practice.”

From https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/world/asia/china-who-wuha...

> Even in the best of circumstances, a full inquiry could take months, if not longer. The team must also navigate attempts by China to politicize the inquiry.

And yet a few days ago the WHO pushed out a hasty judgment that it was very unlikely the virus leaked from the lab. And in the last day they’ve already started backtracking after intense skepticism from the world - see https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-12/who-backs... titled “ WHO Backs Away From Outright Rejection of Virus Lab-Leak Theory”.

It also seems that now the virus may have been reported even earlier than we thought. From https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/world/asia/china-world-he...:

> The Chinese scientists also acknowledged they had discovered that 92 people were hospitalized in Wuhan as early as October 2019 with symptoms such as fever and coughing. The Chinese experts said they had found no trace of Covid-19 in those people, but the tests were incomplete. The W.H.O. team members said more research was needed.

Between the CCP’s early suppression of journalism and social media reporting on the virus, the fact that Taiwan was the first to warn the world, China’s repeated denials and delays in letting an outside team to visit the site, and their purge of all the coronavirus studies originating from this lab (https://www.the-sun.com/news/2113876/covid-cover-up-china-wu...), there is very little reason to trust the claim that a lab leak can be ruled out. If anything it only seems more likely that a massive coverup is in progress, and the WHO is the willing mouthpiece for it.

Re: US raises ‘deep concerns’ over WHO report on Covid’s Wuhan origins

#20

Post by jayd16 »

mc32 wrote: post #3

Beside the danger of adding function to an infectious virus, the biggest danger is the complete politicization of the virus. The WHO has changed their tune back and forth, often vehemently with little to back up its position. In that light the US should consider withdrawing completely from this body.

What is withdrawal going to do? Why not work to get it right instead?
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