For the first time, Chinese experts have given a detailed explanation of the origin of COVID-19, claiming that Coronavirus was not developed in the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).
Addressing a press conference in the State Council Information Office (SCIO) in Beijing, they said that the Chinese government had constituted a multidisciplinary research team to ascertain the origin of COVID-19.
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Last July, Chinese and World Health Organization (WHO) experts had jointly formulated the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the research team to carry out the origin-tracing of COVID-19.
All other studies conducted worldwide to trace the origin of Coronavirus are being carried out in line with these TOR.
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According to the multidisciplinary research team, the Coronaviruses found in bats and pangolins are most likely related to SARS-CoV-2 and share the highest homology with SARS-CoV-2 by sequencing.
However, neither of the viruses identified so far from these mammalian species is sufficiently similar to SARS-CoV-2 to serve as its direct progenitor. Although the homology is high, there is still much difference, the research team has concluded.
