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Prime Minister Morrison has again called for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19, but did not commit to backing the "lab leak" theory.
The World Health Organisation today conceded that their earlier dismissal of that theory – which remains unproven – was premature.
Mr Morrison said Australia was only asking the question for the sake of the health of the world.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has reiterated his call for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19. (9News)
"There is no politics in this," he said.
The Chinese government has attacked Australia over its support for an investigation.
"Now, we don't know about the lab and whether that was the initiation of this or not," Mr Morrison said.
"It may well have been, it may not have been. I don't have a view either way and I'm not in a position to make that judgement."
He said the world "deserved" answers.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said he is asking China to be more transparent as scientists search for the origins of the coronavirus.
Dr Tedros said getting access to raw data had been a challenge for the international team that travelled to China earlier this year to investigate the source of COVID-19.
The first human cases were identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Chinese workers wear protective suits in Beijing. (Getty)
Dr Tedros told reporters that the UN health agency based in Geneva is "asking actually China to be transparent, open and cooperate, especially on the information, raw data that we asked for at the early days of the pandemic".
He said there had been a "premature push" to rule out the theory that the virus might have escaped from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan - undermining WHO's own March report, which concluded that a laboratory leak was "extremely unlikely".
"I was a lab technician myself, I'm an immunologist, and I have worked in the lab, and lab accidents happen," Dr Tedros said.
"It's common."
In recent months, the idea that the pandemic started somehow in a laboratory — and perhaps involved an engineered virus — has gained traction, especially with President Joe Biden ordering a review of US intelligence to assess the possibility in May.
Government workers stand outside a blue tent used to coordinate transportation of travellers from Wuhan to designated quarantine sites in Beijing. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)
China has struck back aggressively, arguing that attempts to link the origins of COVID-19 to a lab are politically motivated and has suggested that the outbreak might have started abroad.
At the WHO's annual meeting of health ministers in the spring, China said that the future search for COVID-19's origins should continue — in other countries.
Most scientists suspect that the coronavirus originated in bats, but the exact route by which it first jumped into people - via an intermediary animal or in some other way - has not yet been determined.
It typically takes decades to narrow down the natural source of an animal virus like Ebola or SARS.
Dr Tedros said that "checking what happened, especially in our labs, is important" to nailing down if the pandemic had any laboratory links.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. (AP)
"We need information, direct information on what the situation of this lab was before and at the start of the pandemic," the WHO chief said, adding that China's cooperation was critical.
"If we get full information, we can exclude (the lab connection)."
Throughout the pandemic, Dr Tedros has repeatedly praised China for its speed and transparency despite senior WHO officials internally griping about obfuscation from their Chinese counterparts.
Last year, The Associated Press found that WHO was frustrated by a lack of details from China during the early stages of the coronavirus' spread and showed that China was clamping down on the hidden hunt for the pandemic's origins.
Numerous public health experts have also called for an independent examination of COVID-19's origins, arguing WHO does not have the political clout to conduct such a forensic analysis and that the UN agency has failed after more than a year to extract critical details from China.
Jamie Metzl, who has led a group of scientists calling for a broader origins investigation, welcomed Dr Tedros' comments but said it was "deeply unfortunate and dangerous" that there were no current plans for a probe led by experts beyond the UN health agency, saying that China has repeatedly blocked requests for all relevant records and samples.
Georgetown University law professor Lawrence Gostin, an expert in public health law, said Dr Tedros' unusual plea for Chinese cooperation underlines how weak WHO is.
Peter Ben Embarek of the World Health Organisation team holds up a chart showing pathways of transmission of the virus during a joint press conference held at the end of the WHO mission in Wuhan. (AP)
"WHO has no powers or political heft to demand access to information critical for global health," Professor Gostin, who also is director of a WHO Collaborating Centre on Public Health Law and Human Rights,
"All Tedros can do is use the bully pulpit, but it will fall on deaf ears," he said.
Any WHO-led mission to China also requires government approval for all experts who travel to the country, as well as permission to visit field sites and final approval on any trip report.
A worker in protective overall past by a warehouse at the Baishazhou wholesale market during a visit by the World Health Organisation on the third day of field visit in Wuhan. (AP)
Dr Tedros' appeal for transparency was echoed by German Health Minister Jens Spahn, who urged Chinese officials to allow the investigation into the origins of the virus to proceed.
"We do appreciate the cooperation of the Chinese government so far for the first mission," Mr Spahn said.
"But that's not yet enough."
The World Health Organisation today conceded that their earlier dismissal of that theory – which remains unproven – was premature.
Mr Morrison said Australia was only asking the question for the sake of the health of the world.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has reiterated his call for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19. (9News)
"There is no politics in this," he said.
The Chinese government has attacked Australia over its support for an investigation.
"Now, we don't know about the lab and whether that was the initiation of this or not," Mr Morrison said.
"It may well have been, it may not have been. I don't have a view either way and I'm not in a position to make that judgement."
He said the world "deserved" answers.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said he is asking China to be more transparent as scientists search for the origins of the coronavirus.
Dr Tedros said getting access to raw data had been a challenge for the international team that travelled to China earlier this year to investigate the source of COVID-19.
The first human cases were identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Chinese workers wear protective suits in Beijing. (Getty)
Dr Tedros told reporters that the UN health agency based in Geneva is "asking actually China to be transparent, open and cooperate, especially on the information, raw data that we asked for at the early days of the pandemic".
He said there had been a "premature push" to rule out the theory that the virus might have escaped from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan - undermining WHO's own March report, which concluded that a laboratory leak was "extremely unlikely".
"I was a lab technician myself, I'm an immunologist, and I have worked in the lab, and lab accidents happen," Dr Tedros said.
"It's common."
In recent months, the idea that the pandemic started somehow in a laboratory — and perhaps involved an engineered virus — has gained traction, especially with President Joe Biden ordering a review of US intelligence to assess the possibility in May.
Government workers stand outside a blue tent used to coordinate transportation of travellers from Wuhan to designated quarantine sites in Beijing. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)
China has struck back aggressively, arguing that attempts to link the origins of COVID-19 to a lab are politically motivated and has suggested that the outbreak might have started abroad.
At the WHO's annual meeting of health ministers in the spring, China said that the future search for COVID-19's origins should continue — in other countries.
Most scientists suspect that the coronavirus originated in bats, but the exact route by which it first jumped into people - via an intermediary animal or in some other way - has not yet been determined.
It typically takes decades to narrow down the natural source of an animal virus like Ebola or SARS.
Dr Tedros said that "checking what happened, especially in our labs, is important" to nailing down if the pandemic had any laboratory links.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. (AP)
"We need information, direct information on what the situation of this lab was before and at the start of the pandemic," the WHO chief said, adding that China's cooperation was critical.
"If we get full information, we can exclude (the lab connection)."
Throughout the pandemic, Dr Tedros has repeatedly praised China for its speed and transparency despite senior WHO officials internally griping about obfuscation from their Chinese counterparts.
Last year, The Associated Press found that WHO was frustrated by a lack of details from China during the early stages of the coronavirus' spread and showed that China was clamping down on the hidden hunt for the pandemic's origins.
Numerous public health experts have also called for an independent examination of COVID-19's origins, arguing WHO does not have the political clout to conduct such a forensic analysis and that the UN agency has failed after more than a year to extract critical details from China.
Jamie Metzl, who has led a group of scientists calling for a broader origins investigation, welcomed Dr Tedros' comments but said it was "deeply unfortunate and dangerous" that there were no current plans for a probe led by experts beyond the UN health agency, saying that China has repeatedly blocked requests for all relevant records and samples.
Georgetown University law professor Lawrence Gostin, an expert in public health law, said Dr Tedros' unusual plea for Chinese cooperation underlines how weak WHO is.
Peter Ben Embarek of the World Health Organisation team holds up a chart showing pathways of transmission of the virus during a joint press conference held at the end of the WHO mission in Wuhan. (AP)
"WHO has no powers or political heft to demand access to information critical for global health," Professor Gostin, who also is director of a WHO Collaborating Centre on Public Health Law and Human Rights,
"All Tedros can do is use the bully pulpit, but it will fall on deaf ears," he said.
Any WHO-led mission to China also requires government approval for all experts who travel to the country, as well as permission to visit field sites and final approval on any trip report.
A worker in protective overall past by a warehouse at the Baishazhou wholesale market during a visit by the World Health Organisation on the third day of field visit in Wuhan. (AP)
Dr Tedros' appeal for transparency was echoed by German Health Minister Jens Spahn, who urged Chinese officials to allow the investigation into the origins of the virus to proceed.
"We do appreciate the cooperation of the Chinese government so far for the first mission," Mr Spahn said.
"But that's not yet enough."
