Parliamentary panel recommends that govt appeal to nations to identify covid origin

New Delhi, September 13

A parliamentary committee has recommended that the government appeals to the comity of nations to conduct more studies to identify the origin of covid and penalise the culprits at an international platform.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health, in its report titled ‘Vaccine Development, Distribution Management and Mitigation of Pandemic Covid-19′, said there is still a lack of concrete evidence on whether coronavirus reached humans via a laboratory incident.

The report was submitted to the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

The panel understands that if the origin of coronavirus is allowed to remain a mystery, it will have colossal consequences on biosafety and biosecurity of the world, the report stated.

“The committee, therefore, strongly recommends the government to reckon its diplomacy to appeal to the comity of nations to conduct more studies to identify the origin of covid-19 and penalise the culprits at the international platform,” it said.

The report said the increasing number of emerging viruses highlighted the necessity to establish a robust mechanism for systematic investigation of the origin and the route of transmission of pathogens.

It recommended that the ministry develop a health-care framework in the country for investigating and managing a future outbreak of disease more effectively.