Thread by @JamieMetzl

Although I welcome the @G7 statement yesterday calling for a "timely, transparent, expert-led, & science-based @WHO-convened Phase 2 #COVID19 Origins study including… in China,” this will only be meaningful if it leads to a comprehensive investigation into what went wrong.

Fully investigating & understanding pandemic origins isn’t about politics, it’s about identifying our biggest failures so we can fix them. Unfortunately, #China has been engaged in a massive coverup since the very beginning. You can learn more here. jamiemetzl.com/origins-of-sar…

.@DrTedros was 100% correct telling @G7 leaders that "the respect” the families of people who’ve died from #COVID19 “deserve is knowing what the origin of this virus is, so we can prevent it from happening again." The safety of everyone & future generations depends on this.

I understand why @G7 leaders pushing the @WHO-convened process. Although that process has been a sham to date, cutting it short would let #China say it supported a full #COVID19 origins study & G7 leaders were just unhappy with the result, giving Beijing a massive propaganda win.

As stated in our March 4 open letter, the @WHO-convened joint study process was an insult to everyone. This stemmed from the outrageous 2020 #WorldHealthAssembly resolution which didn't mandate a pandemic origins investigation. nytimes.com/interactive/20…

Adding insult to injury, 4 members of the int’l cttee had significant conflicts of interest. The entire team should have resigned over the restrictions imposed by China. Instead, their Feb 9 Wuhan press event basically mirrored Beijing’s propaganda points. Awful.

We later learned that the joint team vote over which hypotheses were more or less likely & worthy of investigation were made by a show of hands in front of CCP apparatchiks. Any Chinese scientist who voted that a lab incident origin was possible would have been at great risk.

The joint study team’s March 30 report was even worse. Outrageously, it hardly considered the lab incident hypothesis. Here’s our experts’ open letter outlining the dangerous shortfalls of this deeply flawed & shockingly incomplete report. nytimes.com/interactive/20…

But the most important voice criticizing the process was @DrTedros, who said on 3/30 the laboratory leak hypothesis "requires further investigation, potentially with additional missions involving specialist experts, which I am ready to deploy." His leadership has been essential.

China, on the other hand, has made clear it feels the two-week curated study tour is the end of their process. Chinese officials now calling for the next phase to happen outside China. This is outrageous & insulting. There has not yet been any investigation inside of China.

I understand the frustration of many that @G7 leaders focusing on Phase 2 of a process that has been so disastrous in Phase 1. But this approach is necessary to set up China’s binary choice re next steps.

China must either accept a comprehensive #COVID19 origins investigation w/ full access or tell the world to bugger off & betray the memory of the millions who’ve died from this avoidable pandemic. These people are not numbers. They are our parents, spouses, children, & friends.

Imagine how everyone would react if USA accidently launched nuclear missiles that killed millions around the world but then refused to allow a full investigation. Would anyone be OK knowing the same thing could easily happen again? No.

That's why we can’t settle for anything less than a comprehensive investigation into pandemic origins w/ full access to all relevant records, samples, and personnel. China has no legitimate right to prevent this.

We must demand any Phase 2 #COVID19 study meet basic legitimacy conditions: broad mandate, no Chinese control, full access to all relevant info, led by different int’l team, etc. China should have 30 days to accept these terms & 30 more days to allow full investigation to begin.

Should Chinese authorities not allow a full #COVID19 investigation w/in this timeframe, we would need to launch an full, alternative investigation through other means, possibly OECD, G7, Quad, or a coalition of the willing. Scientists & other experts would play an important role.

While this type of alternate investigation would necessarily suffer from a lack of access to many records, samples, and personnel inside of China, a great deal of highly relevant information could still be gathered through this process.

Although planning for this alternate #COVID19 investigation should begin immediately, the process should not be launched officially until the two-month waiting period has been completed and unless the unfettered and comprehensive origins investigation in China has already begun.

The Chinese government should not be given a veto over whether or not we investigation the worst pandemic in a century.

Everyone on earth, including everyone in China, is a beneficiary of investigating how this pandemic began so we can address our greatest vulnerabilities. We must stand together to demand an immediate and comprehensive investigation into pandemic origins.