President Biden this week set a 90-day deadline for US intelligence agencies to `get closer to a final conclusion` about the origin of nCoV, in the context of the growing hypothesis that the virus leaked from a Chinese laboratory.
WHO emergency response director Mike Ryan said on May 28 that they were still consulting with the team of experts who visited Wuhan earlier this year on how to proceed with the investigation.
US President Biden in Virginia on May 28.
Biden seemed intentional in making the statement as the World Health Assembly (WHA), the week-long ministerial meeting that sets the WHO’s agenda for the year, is taking place.
US officials at the WHA called for a new international investigation on May 25, but Chinese delegates objected.
A Chinese official said at the conference that `China’s part` in the WHO investigation into the origin of the virus `has been completed` and that the investigation should focus elsewhere, implying that Beijing’s theory is
`Pushing for further investigation is like poking China in the eye,` said Yanzhong Huang, a global health expert at the Council on Foreign Relations.
China has great influence with the WHA.
China-WHO investigators released a report in March focusing on the `zoonotic virus` hypothesis and said that the hypothesis that the virus leaked from the Wuhan institute of virology `is highly unlikely.`
However, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus criticized the report as `not comprehensive enough`, saying that further investigation into the possibility of the virus escaping from the laboratory was still needed.
Under the Trump administration, the relationship between the US and WHO frayed during the pandemic.
After Biden took office in January, the US took a more cooperative approach, rejoining the WHO and supporting some of its key efforts, such as the Covax vaccine sharing program.
The US called for a new investigation.
The US also issued a statement signed by 13 other countries, calling for `transparent, independent, non-interference and uninfluenced analysis and assessment of the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic`.
However, China shows little sign of backing down.
`WHO simply does not have the right to ask China to allow them to enter its territory or to hand over data, patient samples or genetic sequencing information,` he said.
However, if China does not accept an investigation, others may see that Beijing `intends to continue its large-scale cover-up,` Metzl said.
That could lead Biden to push for an investigation into the origin of nCoV through other mechanisms.
However, while there is bipartisan US support for a tough stance on China, few other countries appear excited about a war.
According to some analysts, the pandemic has exposed the limitations of US intelligence gathering on China.
Gostin said that although many are calling for a congressional investigation, that effort could be hindered by similar restrictions.
At a WHO press conference on May 28, officials said that while they welcomed offers of assistance from member countries, they wanted to focus on scientific analysis.