WHO investigators to scrap interim report on probe of coronavirus origin

A World Health Organisation (WHO) team investigating the origins of the novel coronavirus is planning to scrap an interim report on its recent mission to China.

The latest development has come amid mounting tensions between Beijing and Washington over the investigation and an appeal from one international group of scientists for a new probe, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The group of two dozen scientists have, in an open letter, called for a new international inquiry. They say the WHO team that last month completed a mission to Wuhan -- the Chinese city where the first known cases were found -- had insufficient access to adequately investigate possible sources of the virus.

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Their appeal comes close on the heels of the US saying it is waiting to scrutinise the report on the Wuhan mission.

The US has also urged China to release all relevant data, including on the first confirmed infections in December 2019, and potential earlier ones.

Beijing, meanwhile, has pressed for similar WHO-led missions to other countries, including the US, to investigate whether the virus could have originated outside China and spread to Wuhan via frozen food packaging.

The leader of the WHO team has said that studies should be carried out to find if the virus was imported into China, adding it was “extremely unlikely” that the virus leaked from a lab.

The findings of the WHO report came as a relief for the Chinese who have repeatedly denied owning up to any responsibility for the origination of the virus.