An international expert mission to Wuhan in China has concluded that it was very likely that Covid first passed to humans from a bat through an intermediary animal, while all but ruling out a lab incident.
The experts said that the intermediary host hypothesis was deemed "likely to very likely", while the theory that the virus escaped from a laboratory was seen as "extremely unlikely".
This is according to the final version of the long-awaited report, of which AFP obtained a copy before the official release - due in the next few days.
Experts from the World Health Organization visited Wuhan in January and February to investigate the origins of the novel coronavirus. Read more: The origins of Covid-19 Last week, the former director of the