Pandemic's origins obscured by lack of Chinese data - WHO panel

Workers in protective suits set up barriers outside a building, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Shanghai, China June 9, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Galbraith

The World Health Organization said on Thursday its latest investigation into the origins of COVID-19 was inconclusive, largely because data from China is missing, another blow to its years-long effort to determine how the pandemic began.

The report from the WHO expert panel said all available data showed the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 probably came from animals, likely bats, a similar conclusion to the U.N. agency's previous work on the topic in 2021 that followed a trip to China.