'More work' to be done': Key takeaways from the WHO report on origins of the Covid-19 pandemic

A team of international scientists tasked with understanding how the coronavirus pandemic began released their first report on Thursday, saying that all hypothesis remain on the table, including a possible laboratory incident.

The 27-member scientific advisory group convened by the World Health Organization said available data suggests the virus jumped from animals to humans but gaps in "key pieces of data" meant a complete understanding of the pandemic's origins could not be established.

The team, called the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), was formed last year to recommend further areas of study to better understand the pandemic's origins and as well as the emergence of future pathogens.

"Studying origins of any novel pathogen or pandemic is incredibly difficult," said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's Covid-19 technical lead for its Health Emergencies Program. "There is a lot more work that needs to be done, in China and elsewhere."