LONDON (Reuters) – There is no evidence as yet that proves the COVID-causing virus came from animals, George Gao, former head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday.
Gao, who was speaking at a London summit on preparing for pandemics, was the head of the agency when COVID first emerged in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019.
“Even now, people think some animals are the host or reservoir,” said Gao. “Cut a long story short, there is no evidence which animals [were] where the virus comes [from].”
(Reporting by Jennifer Rigby in London, additional reporting by Natalie Grover in London; Editing by Toby Chopra)
