The World Health Organization (WHO) will resume research into the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus with a new group of scientists, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The team will include about 20 people, including specialists in laboratory safety, biosecurity and genetics, as well as experts in animal diseases.. They want to conduct research in China and other countries.

WHO announced a new phase of investigation a few months after the first group of researchers returned from Wuhan, China.

Experts presented four versions of the appearance of SARS-CoV-2, the most likely of which was the version about the transmission of coronavirus to humans from bats through an intermediary animal. At the same time, the possibility of a virus leak from a laboratory in Wuhan in the WHO called "

New team will help WHO search for data needed to prevent future outbreaks and determine whether human behavior is contributing to the emergence of new diseases. As part of this mission, experts will investigate the causes of the current pandemic, including examining whether the artificial origin of the coronavirus is possible..

US officials, including Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, pushed for this investigation. The PRC demanded that the organization focus on other countries, such as Italy and the United States, when investigating the origin of the virus..

Members of the new group are expected to be selected by the end of this week. However, it is not yet known whether the team will receive permission to work in China.. The country's foreign ministry said in a statement that Beijing "

Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, said that China will adhere to scientifically based research on the origin of COVID-19 and take an active part in it, categorically opposing any political manipulation.

[see_also].

WHO approved another drug for COVID-19 and called for price reductions [/ see_also].

In August, the World Health Organization began international trials of three drugs for the treatment of severe cases of COVID-19, which are already used to treat other diseases: Artesunate (for severe forms of malaria), Imatinib (for some types of cancer); Infliximab (for certain immune disorders).