WUHAN, China (AP) – World Health Organization researchers visited a research center in the Chinese city of Wuhan on Wednesday that has been the subject of speculation about the origins of the coronavirus.
The WHO team’s visit to the Wuhan Institute of Virology is a highlight of their mission to collect data and search for clues about the origin and spread of the virus.
The reporters followed the team to the high security facility, but as with previous visits, there was no direct access to the team members who have provided few details of their discussions and visits so far. Uniformed and plainclothes security guards stood guard in the thick morning fog, but there was no sign of the protective suits that staff members put on Tuesday during a visit to an animal disease research center.
One of China’s leading virus research laboratories, the institute built an archive of genetic information about coronaviruses in bats after the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak. This led to unproven claims that there may be a link to the original outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan in late 2019.
China vehemently denied this possibility and promoted theories that the virus may have originated elsewhere or even been brought abroad with imports of frozen seafood contaminated with the virus, an idea totally rejected by scientists and international agencies.
The institute’s deputy director is Shi Zhengli, a virologist who worked with Peter Daszak, a zoologist on the WHO team’s mission, to trace the origins of SARS that originated in China and led to the 2003 outbreak. She published widely in academic journalists and worked to unmask the theories defended by the former Trump administration and other American officials that the virus is a biological weapon or a “laboratory leak” from the institute.
After two weeks in quarantine, the WHO team, which includes specialists from 10 countries, visited hospitals, research institutes and a traditional market linked to many of the first cases. The visit came after months of negotiations, while China seeks to maintain strict control over information about the outbreak and the investigation of its origins, possibly to avoid blame for alleged errors in its initial response.
Confirming the origins of the virus can take years. Determining the animal reservoir for an outbreak usually requires extensive research, including animal samples, genetic analysis and epidemiological studies. One possibility is that a wildlife hunter passed the virus on to traders who took it to Wuhan.
The first clusters of COVID-19 were detected in Wuhan in late 2019, prompting the government to place the city of 11 million people under strict blockade for 76 days. Since then, China has reported more than 89,000 cases and 4,600 deaths, with new cases largely concentrated in its cold northeast and local blockages and travel restrictions being imposed to contain the outbreaks.
New cases of local transmission continue to fall, with only 15 reported on Wednesday, while the Chinese heed the government’s calls not to travel for the Lunar New Year holiday later this month.