WHO chief surprisingly says coronavirus origin question warrants further investigation

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
(Image credit: FABRICE COFFRINI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The World Health Organization on Tuesday released a report on the origins of the coronavirus that sparked the ongoing pandemic and how it may have first spread to humans.

There were no hard conclusions, but the report, drafted by a 34-member team of Chinese scientists and international experts who searched for clues in Wuhan, China, dismissed the theory that the virus may have first jumped to humans as a result of a laboratory accident as "extremely unlikely." However, in what The New York Times described as "an unexpected move," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the question deserves another look.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.