We as the South African Students Congress (SASCO) have observed disparagingly the recluse manner in which the issue of COVID-19 origin tracing has been handled. We have observed carefully the issue of Origin tracing, including vaccine distribution, being used as a political football for political expediency. The recent Summary of Assessment on COVID-19 Origins, is one example of how the issue of origin tracing has been used to cast unsubstantive aspersions and obfuscate the science behind the real origin of this virus that has changed the lives of so many people around the world.
As SASCO we support an objective science-based approach to origin tracing. Any, and all, role players should be open and transparent about all aspects of their origin tracing efforts; this must all be done in good faith for it to be seen as credible and legitimate. As SASCO we recognise the report of the joint WHO-China study of origins of SARS-CoV-2 issued in March 2020, including its findings and recommendations. There appears to be some credence to the claim that the pathway of a lab leak is extremely unlikely, and that no massive outbreak was found in Wuhan before December 2019, and as such there should be continued efforts to investigate the possibility of there being earlier cases from a wider range around the globe.
The COVID-19 virus has affected the lives and livelihoods of countless people around the world. It has changed the character and course of all our futures invariably, such an important matter cannot be watered down for political expediency, whether it is through giving it a geographical reference or through the propagation of unsubstantive and unscientific assessments that seek to push a particular line instead of getting to the truth. The attack on China propagated by the US is unwarranted and significantly undermines the efforts of the many men and women who are out there working day and night to ensure that we get the real origin of the virus.
We call upon the international community to look at the origin-tracing matters in a science-based, objective and fair manner to maintain the scientific basis and intellectual rigour of the origin-tracing research and we oppose politicizing the origin-tracing of the virus. We also support global anti-pandemic cooperation.
The international community must stand up and refuse to continue being undermined through the crass attempts by the US to play politics rather than follow the science.
Issued by SASCO
Bamanye Matiwane
President
Buthanani Thobela
Secretary General
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