Read on Twitter
@who going to investigate Covid-19 originating from frozen foods rather than #laborigins because lab leak too unlikely based on what the Wuhan lab personnel told them. https://twitter.com/kakape/status/1359093856957005824
Not too confident that this @who team has much insight to the lab leak hypothesis - the WIV’s SARS research was done at BL2 and BL3 all these years, not BL4. Team could benefit from a lab leak/biosecurity expert weighing in on their report. https://twitter.com/kakape/status/1359099703128969218
So the team says the virus was spreading before the Huanan market but that intermediate host is still the most likely #originsofcovid I’m keen to see the evidence that points to an intermediate host. Also, no mention of pangolins now? #pangolinpapers https://twitter.com/kakape/status/1359085087980195841
Full press conference 2 hours here - see everyone on the other side...
Thanks @WHO and also for endorsing the frozen food origins hypothesis. I imagine it’s raining bonuses in China now for reporters: “WHO will investigate how killer virus that caused the covid pandemic may have first arrived in Wuhan, China via imported frozen fish...” https://twitter.com/filippalentzos/status/1359114939634487301
@dctrjack good summation of key announcements at the @WHO #originsofcovid press release:
Tens of thousands of animal samples in China all tested negative for the virus, so where's the evidence pointing to intermediate host?
https://www.cnet.com/news/who-investigation-into-covid-19-says-lab-origin-extremely-unlikely/
Tens of thousands of animal samples in China all tested negative for the virus, so where's the evidence pointing to intermediate host?
https://www.cnet.com/news/who-investigation-into-covid-19-says-lab-origin-extremely-unlikely/
To be fair to the @WHO I recommend that everyone listen to the full 2hour 48min presser, but if you only have 2 hours, I suggest starting at minute 42. By this point the Chinese part of the investigation has explained how the investigation works...
Essentially, the WHO team is only allowed to build on what China has already investigated (min 13). They're not investigating from scratch or reproducing findings.
See my hot takes on the WHO investigation terms of reference released in Nov 2020. https://twitter.com/Ayjchan/status/1325600489547902979
See my hot takes on the WHO investigation terms of reference released in Nov 2020. https://twitter.com/Ayjchan/status/1325600489547902979
See also an article @mattwridley and I published in the @WSJ on "the inadequacy of WHO’s current investigative framework for exploring all plausible origins of Covid-19."
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-world-needs-a-real-investigation-into-the-origins-of-covid-19-11610728316
http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/a-real-investigation-into-the-origins-of-covid/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-world-needs-a-real-investigation-into-the-origins-of-covid-19-11610728316
http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/a-real-investigation-into-the-origins-of-covid/
By minute 42 of the presser, we've been told that they believe that the pandemic virus was likely highly adapted for humans, but have found no evidence of substantial spread of COVID in Wuhan in the 2 months prior to Dec 2019 (~min 36) after reviewing all of their records.
At min 42, the Chinese part of the @WHO investigation says all of the animal & animal product testing at Huanan seafood market turned up empty for SARS2. Earlier in the presser, they had said that the market was just a cluster and the virus had been spreading prior to the market.
They go into detail saying that cold chain origins of the virus is still an ongoing investigation...
Transitioning into the non-Chinese part of the @WHO team, recommend min 52:20 @Peterfoodsafety says "and you heard some of the key findings from (the Chinese counterpart)"...
Transitioning into the non-Chinese part of the @WHO team, recommend min 52:20 @Peterfoodsafety says "and you heard some of the key findings from (the Chinese counterpart)"...
Up to minute 59, similar key points are repeated - that no substantial circulation prior to Dec 2019 in Wuhan was apparent, the market was only a later cluster and not likely the original source of the virus.
@Peterfoodsafety says all the work continues to point towards natural reservoir in bats - agreed! - continues saying, Wuhan is a very unlikely place for direct bat to human SARS2 spillover - also agreed!
~1h 1min "coming from different parts of the country, and some of the products were also imported products... the potential to continue to follow these leads and further look at the supply chain and animals that were supplied to the markets in frozen and other processed... form"
