HONG KONG – Two members of a World Health Organization mission to China to study the origins of the coronavirus were unable to clear Beijing’s health screening procedures and were blocked from traveling to the country on Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter.
Chinese officials involved in the screening process blocked the two delegations from boarding their plane to central Chinese city of Wuhan after they both tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies in blood-based serology tests during transportation in Singapore, the people said. . The rest of the 15-member delegation arrived in Wuhan, the original center of the Covid-19 pandemic, on Thursday as planned.
WHO CONFIRMS THAT THIS WUHAN VISITS IN CORONAVIRUS INVESTIGATION
The early bracket adds a further complication to a mission already laden with political sensitivity, as Beijing has waged a broad-based campaign to question the origin of a pathogen discovered in central China. The WHO and Beijing have been negotiating for months on the terms of the mission, which has been delayed several times, and United Nations agency researchers say they do not have a clear understanding of the progress Chinese scientists have made in what is meant to be. a collaborative effort.
A bus carrying members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic leaves the airport after their arrival at a cordoned off section in the international arrival area at Wuhan airport on January 14, 2021 (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP) (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP via Getty Images)
Chinese state media reported on the WTO delegation Thursday’s arrival in Wuhan, without giving details on its composition.
The people informed on the matter that the two WTO delegation members in Singapore tested negative for Covid-19.
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Serological tests, which examine blood samples, are intended to detect whether humans have previously been infected with the coronavirus and developed antibodies against it. Diagnostic leak tests are intended to determine if someone is currently infected with Covid-19.
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