HONG KONG – Two members of a World Health Organization mission to China to study the origins of the coronavirus failed to clear Beijing’s screening procedures and were prevented from traveling to the country on Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter. .
Chinese officials involved in the screening process prevented the two members of the delegation from boarding their plane to the city of Wuhan, in central China, after both tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies in blood serology tests during transit in Singapore , people said. The rest of the 15-member delegation arrived on Thursday as planned in Wuhan, the original center of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The initial hurdle adds an additional complication to a mission already fraught with political sensitivities, when Beijing undertook a broad campaign to cast doubt on the origins of a pathogen that was first discovered in central China. WHO and Beijing spent months negotiating the terms of the mission, which has been postponed several times, and researchers at the United Nations agency say they do not have a clear understanding of the progress that Chinese scientists have made in what should 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 its arrival at an isolated section in the international landing area of Wuhan airport on January 14, 2021. (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP) (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP via Getty Images)
Chinese state media reported the arrival of the WHO delegation on Thursday in Wuhan, without giving details of its composition.
The two members of the WHO delegation arrested in Singapore had negative results for Covid-19 in swab tests, people informed on the matter said.
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Serology tests, which examine blood samples, are intended to detect whether people have previously been infected with the coronavirus and have developed antibodies against it. Diagnostic smear tests are designed to determine whether someone is currently infected with Covid-19.
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