WHO is currently trying to determine where COVID-19 came from

 WHO still wants to identify the origins of COVID-19.         

An electron microscope image that shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, which cause COVID-19. (File photo: CDC via AP/Hannah A. Bullock, Azaibi Tamin)

GENEVA: The World Health Organization (WHO) has not abandoned any plans to identify the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, its director general said on Friday (Mar 3).

"I have written to and spoken with high-level Chinese leaders on multiple occasions as recently as just a few weeks ago. Until then, all hypotheses on the origins of the virus remain on the table," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the US Energy Department had concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak, an assessment Beijing denies.

"I wish to be very clear that WHO has not abandoned any plans to identify the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic," Tedros said.