WHO Report Says COVID Origins Uncertain, Beijing Withholding Information

The WHO director-general said both zoonotic spillover and lab leak hypotheses ’must remain on the table,' and urged Beijing to share data.

World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus delivers a speech during the Philanthropy Asia Summit in Singapore on May 5, 2025. Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

A panel of World Health Organization (WHO) experts said they were not able to draw a conclusion on the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic as the Chinese regime is still withholding information.

In a report published on Friday, the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), a 27-strong expert panel established by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in November 2021, called on “governments—especially those where the earliest human cases were confirmed,” to share information.