China probably got ride of intermediary COVID-19 host: Fauci

China likely got rid of an intermediary host that carried the COVID-19 between bats and humans when officials cleaned out the live animal market, said White House, the chief medical advisor.

"It was very likely in a host. What the Chinese did, I don't have firsthand knowledge of that, but the people who were reporting it, who investigated -- what they did is they cleaned out the markets as soon as it turned out that it was clear that there were clusters coming from the market," The Hill quoted Fauci as saying. Fauci made the remarks at Margaret Brennan on CBS's "Face the Nation."

"In typical fashion, I think, trying to make sure that things don't get pointed to them, they probably got rid of the animals that were the intermediary hosts there," said Fauci, stressing this possibility as a reason for further cooperation from China on surveillance in live animal markets is needed.

Brennan noted that Beijing has said it doesn't think the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated from the market. Fauci shot back, saying Beijing could not reasonably say whether it originated from the Wuhan wet market.

"I think you could say we don't know how and where it originated," he said. "There were wet markets in Wuhan that are ample opportunity for a virus to jump from an animal that gets brought in from all parts of China that are very closely related physically to bat enclaves in caves and come to the market. So I don't think anyone can say that it didn't come from here or it did come from here."

In October, the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched an expert group that will study the origins of new pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

The virus was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan and since then China has been chided for its lack of transparency.

In the absence of any evidence, several theories for the origin of the virus were put forward. Among them, a few possibilities, such as the theory which said that the virus originated in nature, have received more traction than others.

Meanwhile, other theories raised questions on China's intentions and handling of the dangerous virus. These include possibilities of an accidental leak of the Covid-19 virus from a Wuhan lab and Beijing deliberately manufacturing the virus as a bioweapon.

( With inputs from ANI )