WHO praises China for 'very consistent message' of 'openness' in virus investigation

A top World Health Organization official offered praise for China’s “openness” during its effort to understand how the coronavirus pandemic began.

Dr. Michael Ryan, the head of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, said Monday that the Chinese government has been helpful as the international community investigates the mystery illness that first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.

“We’ve been in discussions day to day with our colleagues in China about putting together the necessary scientific inquiries into the origin of the virus,” Ryan said during a press conference in Switzerland.

“I think the authorities in China, governments around the world, and ourselves are very keen to understand the animal origin of the virus itself,” he said. “And I am very pleased to hear a very consistent message coming from China, which is one of openness to such an approach.”

Earlier this month, Ryan made headlines when he suggested that the international community may have to learn to live with the deadly respiratory illness.

“We have a new virus entering the human population for the first time, and, therefore, it is very hard to predict when we will prevail over it,” Ryan said. “This virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away.”

President Trump and U.S. officials have criticized the WHO for its coziness with the Chinese government and have lashed China for not doing enough to stop the spread of COVID-19 early on in the pandemic. The row came to a head when the United States froze funding to the international organization. Trump has since threatened to end funding to the WHO permanently unless it makes “substantive changes.”