The World Health Organisation, WHO, on Tuesday revealed that evidence indicates that the deadly coronavirus originated from bats, in China, in 2019.
The confirmation is coming amid claims that the virus emanated from a laboratory in Wuhan, central China.
But speaking during a press briefing on Tuesday, WHO spokeswoman, Fadela Chaib, said the disease was not constructed in a laboratory, adding that research on how the disease jumped from animals to humans was still on going.
According to NewYork post Chaib said, “All available evidence suggests the virus has an animal origin and is not manipulated or constructed in a lab or somewhere else. It is probable, likely that the virus is of animal origin.
‘’It is not clear how the virus jumped the species barrier to humans but there had ‘certainly’ been an intermediate animal host,’’ she added.
Meanwhile, John Hopkins University reports that there are over 2.5 million confirmed cases of the disease worldwide.
It said the cases were confirmed in 185 countries.