Experts of the World Health Organization met Chinese officials Friday before their first visit to the city in Wuhan for an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, which will take on a food market that is thought to be a “zero zero” of the pandemic.
The fieldwork would begin in earnest in the afternoon, after being hampered by delays – and amid fears of entry and strong evidence a year after the virus originated.
The team will visit hospitals, as well as scientists, first responders and some of the early patients affected by the then unknown coronavirus that killed more than two million people around the world and flattened the global economy.
The most important thing is that “field visits the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Huanan mark, Wuhan CDC Laboratory“, The WTO said in a tweet late Thursday – three websites that are now indelibly linked to the virus.
World Health Organization (WHO)
(@WHO)The international team that is working on the origins of the # COVID-19 virus has completed its two-week quarantine in Wuhan, #China on Thursday. As members begin their field visits on Friday, they should receive the support, access, and information they need.
The Huanan market, which is still on board, was presumably the first major group to break out.
Meanwhile, the Wuhan Institute of Virology houses a virus-testing facility used by weapons Former United States President Donald Trump, who until his last days in office argued the unfounded theory that the virus had escaped from there.
The exact itinerary of the mission remains unclear – tweets from the WHO and their experts have so far been the main source of information.
The highly politicized mission has been plagued by delays with China denying access until mid-January, while Washington is demanding a ‘robust and clear’ investigation.
China on Thursday warned the USA against ‘political interference’ during a trip that the WTO insists will be tied to the science behind the way the virus has been transmitted to humans.
Beijing is desperate to get the air out of the blame game and places the attention on dealing with and repairing the outbreak.
In a tweet late Thursday, WHO Head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was having an ‘open discussion’ with China’s Health Minister Ma Xiaowei.
“I asked that the international scientists get the necessary support, access and data and the opportunity to enter into full dialogue with their Chinese counterparts,” he said.
The experts left a two-week quarantine on Thursday under the glare of the global media.
China National Health Commission says 4,636 people have died in the country as a result of the virus.
The country’s GDP grew by 2.3 percent in 2020, the only major economy that could do so.
By comparison, more than 400,000 Americans have died as far as the disease breaks through its population and economy, while the United Kingdom recorded its 100,000th death this week.