The United States’ top public health officials have called for further investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic as questions swirl over reports that researchers in Wuhan, China, were hospitalized as early as November 2019, far earlier than previously known. During a meeting of the World Health Organization on Tuesday, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the WHO should be allowed “the independence to fully assess the source of the virus and the early days of the outbreak.” At a White House briefing Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said, “Because we don’t know 100 percent what the origin is, it’s imperative that we look and we do an investigation.” Andy Slavitt, the White House’s top coronavirus response adviser, said the same day, “We need a completely transparent process from China. We need the WHO to assist in that matter. We don’t feel like we have that now.” Many experts, including those from the WHO, previously dismissed the lab origin theory, but information about the early infections has raised questions of whether COVID-19 did originate in the Wuhan Institute of Virology rather than via zoonotic transmission.
