WHO Team to Probe Covid-19 Origins in China

KOMPAS.com – A team from the World Health Organization (WHO) is scheduled to arrive in China Thursday to investigate the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was not immediately clear whether the team would be traveling to the central Chinese city of Wuhan where coronavirus was first detected in late 2019.

Negotiations for the visit have long been underway.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus last week expressed disappointment over the mission being delayed.

Also read: Indonesia to Receive 15 Million Doses of Covid-19 Bulk Vaccine Tomorrow 

He said members of the international scientific team had already started their journey from their home countries to China as part of an arrangement between the WHO and Beijing when China informed the organization it was not ready for their arrival.

China’s Government has strictly controlled all research at home into the origins of the virus, while state-owned media have played up fringe theories that suggest the virus could have originated elsewhere.

The culture of secrecy is believed to have delayed warnings about the pandemic, blocked the sharing of information with the WHO and hampered early testing.

Some countries have called for an investigation into the origins of the virus, prompting angry responses from Beijing.

After Tedros’ statement, China’s Foreign Ministry said the country was open to a visit by WHO experts, but it was still working on “necessary procedures and relevant concrete plans.”
China’s disease experts were busy with multiple small-scale virus clusters and outbreaks that had been reported in the past couple of weeks, ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

Also read: Indonesia Signs Request Form to Access Up To 108 Million Doses of Free Covid-19 Vaccine

“Our experts are wholeheartedly in the stressful battle to control the epidemic,” Hua said.

There was no immediate comment from the WHO on Monday’s announcement, but UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric had earlier told reporters at UN headquarters in New York that secretary-general Antonio Guterres was “fully supportive of Tedros” and WHO’s efforts to get a team in there.”

“It’s very important that as the WHO is in the lead in fighting the pandemic, that it also has a leading role in trying to look back at the roots of this pandemic so we can be better prepared for the next one,” Dujarric said.

“We very much hope that China’s reported comments that it is working with the WHO and looking for a smooth visit will happen.”