The World Health Organization (WHO) is still working to identify the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, its director general said on Friday, after a US agency was reported to have assessed the pandemic had likely been caused by a Chinese laboratory leak, News.az reports citing Al Arabiya.

“I have written to and spoken with high-level Chinese leaders on multiple occasions as recently as just a few weeks ago... all hypotheses on the origins of the virus remain on the table,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the US Energy Department had concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak, an assessment Beijing denies.

“I wish to be very clear that WHO has not abandoned any plans to identify the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Tedros said.