PARIS/SHANGHAI/DALIAN, China -- The novel coronavirus that has killed around 2.8 million people worldwide most likely first spread to humans from animals, a World Health Organization report on the origins of the pandemic has found.
Tuesday's report almost totally rules out the laboratory leak hypothesis, which alleges that the virus escaped or was released from a research facility. This scenario, one of four considered by investigators during a joint WHO-China study from January to February, is called "extremely unlikely."
