Executive director of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Programme, Dr. Mike Ryan has debunked the conspiracy theory insinuation that Covid-19 is man-made and a consequence of the rivalry between China and the US
Ryan who was answering questions on Aljazeera news on March 27 monitored by Church Times said “though the WHO has not got the brief to investigate the cause of the virus from that perspective no evidence has shown that the virus is man-made.”
This perhaps may put to rest insinuations in some quarters that the virus was manufactured by some interest to score political and economic points.
Ryan however explained that the WHO has been tracking the genetics of the virus since the beginning. “We have been tracking information from the internet and other relevant sources. There is no evidence other than it is a virus that emerged from nature.”
He said further that the “reality is we have behaved in a way that our environment have been abused. We have globalized the planet and it has come with benefits in terms of freedom of movement and the economy. But we have stressed the environment . We have invaded the animal and human interface. We have allowed diseases to cross from animal to human. And when that happens the disease can amplify among humans.”
While stressing that the virus is from nature, he said the activities of man has caused the virus. “The problem is man made. We have left ourselves vulnerable to emerging diseases. The disease is natural but we have caused the creation of the disease. We have caused tremendous damage to our health and death to those we love”
He said the WHO is still coming to terms with pandemic pointing out that “Every body has got a job to do. I have got a job. You have got to protect others and contribute to the community. And when this is done we ought to sit down and determine what society we want to have in the future. Are we to defend ourselves from viruses or foreign armies? Where are we placing our investment? That is a conversation for later. But now we have to fight the pandemic”