A team from the World Health Organization began its investigation into the origins of the coronavirus in China, despite concerns that the Beijing government might try to block any embarrassing findings.
Thirteen scientists arrived in Wuhan, China, on Thursday, after months of discussions with President Xi Jinping’s government.
The team includes virologists and other experts from the United States, Australia, Germany, Japan, Britain, Russia, the Netherlands, Qatar and Vietnam.
A worker with protective covers guides team members of the World Health Organization on their arrival at Wuhan airport in central China’s Hubei province on Thursday, January 14, 2021. A global team of researchers arrived Thursday fair to the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic occurred was first detected, conducting a politically delicate investigation of its origins amid uncertainty as to whether Beijing could try to avoid embarrassing discoveries. (AP Photo / Ng Han Guan)
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The team will observe a two-week quarantine – according to the protocols – but team members will start working via videoconference with Chinese experts. Two members of the initial team also had to stay in Singapore after positive test for COVID-19, but they will follow when the test is negative.
A possible focus for researchers is the Wuhan Institute of Virology, in the city where the outbreak first emerged in late 2019. One of China’s leading virus research laboratories, he built an archive of genetic information about coronaviruses in bats after the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003 (SARS).
The investigation begins after months of discussions and more bureaucratic hurdles, when China announced that some team members had not received valid visas.
Passengers arriving on a Singapore flight are sued by employees in protective clothing and directed to a covered passage to a separate exit from the airport terminal in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province on Thursday, January 14, 2021. Chinese state media reported that a WHO team arrived in Wuhan on Thursday to research the origins of the coronavirus. (AP Photo / Ng Han Guan)
“The government must be very transparent and collaborative,” said Shin-Ru Shih, director of the Research Center for Emerging Viral Infections at Taiwan’s Chang Gung University.
Beijing has long resisted demands for an international investigation, rather than forcing marginal theories that the virus entered China from abroad.
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World Health Organization team members arrive at Wuhan airport in central China’s Hubei province on Thursday, January 14, 2021. A global team of researchers arrived Thursday in the Chinese city where the pandemic Coronavirus was first detected to conduct a politically sensitive investigation into its origins amid uncertainty about whether Beijing can try to avoid embarrassing discoveries. (AP Photo / Ng Han Guan)
When Australia called for an independent investigation into the origin of the virus, Beijing retaliated by blocking imports of Australian products.
“WHO will need to conduct similar investigations elsewhere,” said a National Health Commission official, Mi Feng, on Wednesday.
Efforts to closely protect information about the virus and its origins may have led to delayed warnings about the pandemic and difficulties in establishing early testing resources.
A “scientific audit” of the Institute’s records and security measures would be a “routine activity,” said Mark Woolhouse, an epidemiologist at the University of Edinburgh. He said it depends on how willing Chinese officials are to share information.
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“There is a big element of trust here,” said Woolhouse.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.