Experts from World Health Organization met with Chinese officials on Friday before his first visits to locations in Wuhan to investigate the origins of the coronavirus, which will lead to a food market that is presumed to be the “ground zero” of the pandemic.
Fieldwork was scheduled to start for real in the afternoon, after being hampered by delays – and amid fears about access and the strength of evidence a year after the virus emerged.
The team will visit hospitals, as well as find scientists, rescuers and some of the first patients to be hit by the then-unknown coronavirus that killed more than two million people worldwide and leveled the global economy.
Crucially, “field visits will include the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Huanan Market, Wuhan CDC Laboratory”, WHO said in a tweet on Thursday night – three sites now indelibly linked to the virus.
World Health Organization (WHO)
(@WHO)The international team working to understand the origins of #COVID-19 virus completed its 2-week quarantine in Wuhan, #China On thursday. As members begin their field visits on Friday, they must be given the support, access and data they need.
The Huanan market, which remains boarded up, is believed to have been the first major cluster of the outbreak.
Meanwhile, the Wuhan Institute of Virology houses a virus testing facility that has been turned into weapons by former US President Donald Trump, who until his last days in office pushed the groundless theory that the virus escaped from there.
The exact itinerary of the mission remains unclear – tweets from WHO and its experts are the main source of information so far.
The highly politicized mission has been affected by delays with China refusing access until mid-January, while Washington has demanded a “robust and clear” investigation.
China on Thursday warned the WE against “political interference” during a trip that WHO insists will be strongly linked to the science behind how the virus hit humans.
Beijing is desperate to take its breath away from the blame game and instead draw attention to the outbreak management and recovery.
In a tweet on Thursday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Head of WHO said he had a “frank discussion” with China’s Minister of Health, Ma Xiaowei.
“I asked international scientists to get the support, access and necessary data and the chance to get fully involved with their Chinese colleagues,” he said.
Experts left a two-week quarantine on Thursday in the glare of the global media.
China National Health Commission says that 4,636 people died in the country as a result of the virus.
The country’s GDP grew 2.3% in 2020, the only major economy to do so.
In comparison, more than 400,000 Americans died by the time the disease reached its population and economy, while UK recorded its 100,000th fatality this week.