China has hit back at allegations that it is withholding information about the source of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The response by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, was in response to the World Health Organization's claims that the country had still not supplied all information regarding the outbreak.

Five years ago on December 31, WHO’s Country Office in China picked up a media statement by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission from their website on cases of ‘viral pneumonia’ in Wuhan, China.

The WHO said it continued to call on China to share data and access to understand the origins of Covid-19.

"This is a moral and scientific imperative. Without transparency, sharing, and cooperation among countries, the world cannot adequately prevent and prepare for future epidemics and pandemics," the WHO said.

However, the WHO's allegations were disputed by Mao.

Mao said China immediately shared epidemic information and viral gene sequence with the WHO and the international community, AFP reported.

Mao said more and more clues pointed to Covid-19's origins having a global scope.

She said China is willing to work with various parties to promote global scientific origin tracing and making active efforts to prevent future infectious diseases.

Meanwhile, the WHO believes the world has learnt valuable lessons from the pandemic and global agencies will be better prepared should there be any future outbreaks.

"The world would still face some of the same weaknesses and vulnerabilities that gave Covid-19 a foothold five years ago, but the world has also learned many of the painful lessons the pandemic taught us and has taken significant steps to strengthen its defences against future epidemics and pandemics," said WHO director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

seanne.rall@iol.co.za

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