WUHAN, China (AP) – Researchers from the World Health Organization visited a research center in the Chinese city of Wuhan on Wednesday, which is speculated about the origin of the coronavirus. One member said they planned to meet key staff and press them on critical issues.
The WHO team’s visit to the Wuhan Institute of Virology was a highlight of their mission to gather data and look for clues as to where the virus originated and how it spread.
“We look forward to meeting with all the key people here and asking all the important questions that need to be asked,” said zoologist and team member Peter Daszak, according to recordings by Japanese broadcaster TBS.
Reporters followed the team to the high security facility, but as with previous visits, there was little direct access to team members, who have so far given little detail of their discussions and visits. Security guards in uniform and ordinary clothes guarded the entrance to the facility, but there was no sign that members of the protective clothing were dressed on Tuesday during a visit to an animal disease research center. It was not clear what protective equipment was worn inside the institute.
The team left after about three hours without speaking to waiting journalists.
Wang Wenbin, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said during a daily briefing that the experts also held talks with experts from Huazhong Agricultural University on Wednesday.
“It should be noted that virus traceability is a complex scientific problem, and that our experts need to be given sufficient space to conduct scientific research,” Wang said. “China will continue to work with the WHO in an open, transparent and responsible manner and to make its contribution to better prevent future risks and protect the lives and health of people in all countries.”
After two weeks in quarantine, the WHO team, which includes experts in veterinary medicine, virology, food safety and epidemiology from ten countries, has visited hospitals, research institutes and a traditional wet market over the past six days related to many of the first cases. Their visit followed months of negotiations, as China wants to maintain strict control over information about the outbreak and its investigation into its origins, which some saw as an attempt to avoid blaming any mistakes in its early response. .
The Wuhan Institute of Virology, one of China’s leading virus research laboratories, has built up an archive of genetic information on bat coronavirus after the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome. This has led to unsubstantiated allegations that it may be related to the original outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan at the end of 2019.
China has vehemently denied the possibility and also promoted unproven theories that the virus originated elsewhere or even was brought to the country from overseas with the import of frozen seafood contaminated with the virus, an idea espoused by international scientists and agencies are completely rejected.
The deputy director of the institute is Shi Zhengli, a virologist who worked with Daszak to trace the origins of SARS that originated in China and led to the outbreak in 2003. She has published widely in academic journals and worked to dispel the theories espoused by the former Trump administration and other U.S. officials that the virus is a bio-weapon or a ‘laboratory leak’ from the institute.
Confirming the origin of the virus is likely to take years. To pinpoint the animal reservoir of an outbreak, typical comprehensive research is typically needed, including taking animal samples, genetic analysis, and epidemiological studies. One possibility is that a poacher would have transmitted the virus to traders who transported it to Wuhan.
The first groups of COVID-19 were detected in late 2019 in Wuhan, which eventually led the government to place the 11 million city under a strict 76-day closure. China has since reported more than 89,000 cases and 4,600 deaths, with new cases concentrated largely in the northeast and local closures and travel restrictions being put in place to curb outbreaks.
New cases of local shipping are still falling with only 15 reported on Wednesday, as the Chinese called on the government not to travel for the Lunar New Year holiday later this month.