Covid origins report leader says team faced difficulties accessing data

The leader of a World Health Organization mission to China to find the origins of the coronavirus has said the team felt political pressure, including from outside China, and difficulties in accessing raw data.

"We got access to quite a lot of data, in many different areas, but of course, there are areas where we had difficulties getting down to the raw data. And there are many good reasons for that,' said Peter Ben Embarek, the WHO official who led the four-week mission of international experts to China in January and February.

'In China, like in many other countries, there are restrictions and privacy laws that forbid the sharing of data, including private details to outsiders, in particular if the data are moving out of the country. There would be exactly the same in most countries in the world.'

The US and the UK have sharply criticised the WHO report into the beginnings of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan, in a statement signed by 12 other countries, implicitly accusing China of 'withholding access to complete, original data and samples'

[jaccrystal]

'The science' is as elastic as history.

[nwhlronnie]

Bat 1: hey it wasn't me honest!
Bat 2: don't look at me, I'm innocent as a fly...
Bat 3: hey man give me a break besides you are the virus scoot now cos you're just spreading lies about my bats

[misfit]

“Difficulties getting down to the raw data” Is anyone really surprised? “Strong indication” but nothing can be confirmed

[avivaguo]

This guys must been paid a lot of money from the CCP!

[hghbryson]

Chinese bots invading this comment section in 3....2....1....

[GRA.L]

Covid19?!?! never heard of it.... i swear these people just make it up.... it is nearly April 1st after April fools everyone, this was all just a massive oh how we will LOL about this if our internal memory HDDs havent been wiped by then.... i should lay off these funky mushrooms, they are delicious, nutty tasting psychedelic goodness

[public.public]

In the one party state the party is the middle class and the middle class in China inhibited the necessary exposure of the outbreak and it continues to do so.
And that is the same problem with management, i.e. the middle class, all over the world not merely a regional or politically lead problem.

[WillCamx]

Brave, brave Guardian. Turned off comments on their George Floyd videos.

[JamesRD]

@theguardian, why are comments turned off on some of your news videos but not others???? 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[marko]

Poor Randy Marsh, he just cant get a break this year

[yangwang]

What difficulty, can't read Chinese?

[thomasscream]

Wow, the guardian totally misconstrued what the representative said... clicks, clicks über alles I guess

[larryjimbob]

Quite a lot of data is not 100% of the picture is it obviously. Not acceptable.

[ointment]

This is Racist. To even suggest that it came from China is Racist. However i have no Racist issues Guardian News when you say the Brasil variant or the South African variant, that is not being Racist but just being factual.

[guardiannews]

At the Guardian we are committed to fact-checked, evidence-based coverage of the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences on our lives. This hasn't gone unnoticed by our global audience – a recent independent study found, when it comes to this subject, that the general public trusts the Guardian more than any other UK publication. Help safeguard our quality journalism by making a contribution of $1 today ►

Read more about the independent study ►

[robotron]

*Public Health England:* "All deaths with a positive specimen (including at post-mortem) are counted *REGARDLESS OF THE CAUSE OF DEATH!"*

[azteceaglecochodeguerrerow]

I am not a hollywood star 🐕 ✨📺
I am essentials
eagle's 🦅🌎🦅🦅🦅🦅 who get up early every morning to go work hard making America great in the middle of a pandemic deaths ☠️💀 cheer's 🍻 we the people essentials for the minimum amount