WUHAN, China (AP) – A team from the World Health Organization investigating the origins of the coronavirus pandemic has visited a provincial disease control center that controlled the outbreak early.
WTO investigators arrived in Hubei provincial capital, Wuhan, last month to search for clues and visit hospitals that treated many of the earliest patients and a seafood market where cases of infection with the then unknown virus in December 2019 came forward.
The team’s visit to the Hubei Provincial Disease Control Center took place on Monday amid strict Chinese control over access to information about the virus. China tried to avoid the blame for alleged mistakes in its early response to the outbreak, while promoting alternative theories that the virus originated elsewhere and was even brought to Wuhan from outside the country.
After the visit, a member of the team, Peter Daszak, told reporters it was a “very good meeting, very important.” No other details were given.
The evidence the team puts together will contribute to what is expected to be a years-long search for answers. To capture the animal reservoir of an outbreak, a lot of research is needed, including taking animal samples, genetic analysis and epidemiological studies.
China has largely restricted domestic shipping through strict testing and contact tracing. Mask worn in public is observed almost universally and locks are regularly imposed on communities and even entire cities where cases are detected. The latest outbreaks were mostly in the icy northeast, with 33 new cases reported nationwide in three provinces on Monday.
Nevertheless, in January, China recorded more than 2,000 new local cases of COVID-19, the highest monthly total since the last phase of the initial outbreak in Wuhan last March. Two people died of the disease in January, the first COVID deaths in China in a few months.
Schools went online and the trip was drastically cut during this month’s lunar New Year holiday, and the government is offering incentives for people to stay seated during the most important time for family gatherings in the big country.