WHO urges US to share COVID origins intel

GENEVA, Switzerland, February 12 ------ The World Health Organization urged Washington to share any intelligence it may be withholding on the COVID-19 pandemic's origins, despite the United States quitting the WHO.

The global catastrophe killed an estimated 20 million people, according to the UN health agency, while shredding economies, crippling health systems, and turning people's lives upside-down. The first cases were detected in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, and understanding where the SARS-CoV-2 virus came from is seen as key to preventing future pandemics.

On his first day back in office in January 2025, US President Donald Trump handed the WHO his country's one-year withdrawal notice, which cited "the organization's mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic".

Trump's administration has officially embraced the theory that the virus leaked from a virology laboratory in Wuhan. But the WHO said Washington did not hand over any COVID origins of intelligence before marching out the organization's door.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recalled that some countries have publicly said "they have intelligence about the origins -- especially the US".

Source: gmanetwork.com