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.
The WHO team’s visit to the Wuhan Institute of Virology is a highlight of their mission to gather data and look for clues as to where the virus originated and how it spread.
Reporters followed the team to the high-security facility, but as with previous visits, there was no direct access to team members who had so far provided little information about their discussions and visits. Security guards of uniforms and plain clothes stood guard amid the thick morning mist, but there was no sign that members of the protective garment were dressed on Tuesday during a visit to a research center for animal diseases.
One of China’s leading virus research laboratories, the institute has built up an archive of genetic information on bat coronaviruses 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 promoted theories that the virus may have originated elsewhere or even been brought to the country from overseas by importing frozen seafood contaminated with the virus, an idea espoused by international scientists and agencies. completely rejected.
The deputy director of the institute is Shi Zhengli, a virologist who worked with Peter Daszak, a zoologist at the WTO team mission, to trace the origins of the SARS that originated in China and 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.
After two weeks in quarantine, the WHO team, which includes experts from ten countries, visited hospitals, research institutes and a traditional wet market related to many of the first cases. Their visit followed months of negotiations, as China wants to retain strict control over information about the outbreak and its investigation into its origins, possibly avoiding the blame for alleged errors in its early response.
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-19s were detected in late 2019 in Wuhan, asking the government to place the 11 million city under a strict 76-day lockdown. China has since reported more than 89,000 cases and 4,600 deaths, with new cases imposed mainly in its icy northeast and local closures and travel restrictions 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.