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Sri Lanka urged to back coalition seeking probe on origin of virus

18 May, 2020

Sri Lanka has been urged to back a coalition seeking an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus.

Former Foreign Minister Mangala Samarawera tweeted saying?Sri Lanka must back a 62-nation coalition?s push for an investigation into the origin of the virus.

He said that even India and Russia have backed the coalition led by the European Union and Australia to seek an independent investigation into the coronavirus outbreak.

The?draft resolution – supported by 62 countries including Bangladesh, Canada, Russia, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Japan – was an effort to bring about transparency and accountability for the spread of the disease that has been widely-acknowledged to be the worst crisis since the second world war.

It asks the World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General to work with the World Organisation for Animal Health to conduct ?scientific and collaborative field missions? and ?identify the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population, including the possible role of intermediate hosts?.

The seven-page draft resolution also proposes to ask the WHO chief to start, ?at the earliest appropriate moment?, a stepwise ?impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation? to review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19. (Colombo Gazette)

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