Covid-19 origins probe: China, WHO seek ‘stronger collaboration’

China and the World Health Organization have discussed the need for "stronger collaboration" on tracing the origins of Covid-19, amid tensions over the WHO's plans to further investigate the theory that the virus could have leaked from a Wuhan lab.

This came as WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on Saturday, where they also asserted the need to aggressively pursue vaccine equity.

Tedros, who attended the Beijing Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony on Friday, is visiting China for the first time since January 2020, after the first Covid-19 cases were reported in the central city of Wuhan.

"Pleased to meet with Premier Li Keqiang," the WHO director general tweeted late on Saturday, alongside a photo of the pair with other officials in a meeting room.

"We discussed Covid-19 and the need for an aggressive effort on vaccine equity this year to vaccinate 70 percent of all populations."

And in a follow-up tweet, he said the two leaders "discussed the need for stronger collaboration on Covid-19 virus origins, rooted in science and evidence".

A statement released by the Chinese foreign ministry after the talks said: "[Tedros said] the WHO adheres to scientific principles in tracing the origins of the virus and opposes politicising it."

The origins of Covid-19 have been a source of tension between China and some Western countries, as well as the WHO, since the Sars-CoV-2 virus behind the disease was identified in China in late 2019.

Last year, a WHO-backed team of scientists released a 300-page report after visiting Wuhan, capital of the central Chinese province of Hubei, where the first outbreak of the virus was reported.

The scientists concluded that it was extremely unlikely for the virus to have come from a lab – a theory linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology's study of coronaviruses, including those found in bats.

Coronavirus has killed over 5.7 million people worldwide since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources yesterday.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday that the reopening of the country's borders to international tourists may not be far away, adding that the parliament will debate the matter this week.

Australia, which shut its borders in March of 2020, has been going through a staggered reopening in recent months, allowing in only its citizens and residents, skilled migrants, international students and certain seasonal workers, reports Reuters.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday urged New Zealanders to unite in their battle against Covid-19, as the pandemic forced the country to celebrate its national Waitangi Day online.

"We all have a duty to do everything we can to protect our communities with all the tools that science and medicine have given us," Ardern said in a pre-recorded speech.