Members of a World Health Organization (WHO) delegation investigating the origin of COVID-19 on Sunday visited a market in Wuhan, China, where many of the first infections were reported in late 2019.
Peter Daszak, president of the North American group EcoHealth Alliance and member of the delegation, confirmed the visit through a tweet, as well as a senior official at the International Livestock Research Institute.
Daszak tweeted that the market, now closed, had an air of historic importance and expressed sympathy for the city’s residents who lost their livelihoods as a result of the outbreak.
As you walk through the Huanan market, you feel the historic importance of this place and a sympathy for the vendors and the community that have lost their livelihoods due to COVID
– Peter Daszak (@PeterDaszak) January 31, 2021
Yes i am with @PeterDaszak, @MarionKoopmans and colleagues here in Wuhan meeting with different institutions and making field visits.
– Dr. Hung Nguyen-Viet (@hung_cenpher) January 31, 2021
Team members gave a thumbs up to the journalists covering the visit, but were prevented from meeting directly with reporters, according to several reports. The government of China has faced criticism from some, especially during the Trump administration, about the speed and level with which it has cooperated with global health experts who seek to better understand the origins of COVID-19.
The rate of new COVID-19 cases reported in China remained practically stable for months after the country experienced its initial outbreak in late 2019 and continued until 2020. The country has also started to release several versions of COVID-19 vaccines.
In late December, Chinese officials said the first known case of a more contagious COVID-19 strain that was thought to have originated in the UK had been confirmed within its borders.