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The public initially believed that COVID-19 originated from a market in Wuhan.
After several months of negotiations with China, the World Health Organization (WHO) went to Wuhan, China to investigate the source of the new corona virus. The organization’s think tank was unable to enter China recently.
The WHO stated that the two members were already on their way but could not enter China due to lack of visas. China said details such as the date of the visit are still being worked out.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has rarely publicly expressed dissatisfaction with Beijing. “Since the two members of the delegation have already started their journey, and the others were unable to leave at the last minute,” he was “very disappointed that China has not yet approved the delegation’s entry permit,” he said.
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WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
China: “No need to over-interpret”
Tedros Tedros told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday: “My guarantee is that China is speeding up internal procedures and rolling out as soon as possible.” He said that he has contacted senior Chinese officials and stressed to them that “this mission is for WHO and the priority of the international team.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying told the BBC at a regular press conference on the 6th that “there may be some misunderstandings” and “there is no need to over-interpret.”
She said: “The relevant Chinese authorities have also maintained close cooperation with WHO. But, as you know, the local epidemic in China has recently shown a tendency to intertwine and overlap sporadic and locally clustered epidemics, and many places have entered into” wartime. “” Status, the Chinese epidemic prevention department and experts are engaged in intensive work against the epidemic. ”
“However, from the perspective of supporting the international fight against the epidemic, we are still overcoming difficulties and intensifying internal preparations. From what I know, the two sides still maintain details on the specific date and specific arrangements for the international team of experts come to China. To communicate closely, “Hua Chunying.
WHO’s complex relationship with China
In late 2019, the epidemic first broke out in Wuhan, China, and was related to a local market. The WHO has been criticized for not effectively using the first days of the outbreak to explore person-to-person information in order to prevent a global pandemic. However, Tan Desai said that when the organization announced on January 30 that the virus constituted a public health emergency of international concern, it had “given all parts of the world sufficient time to respond.”
When China took the lead in controlling the spread of the epidemic, Tedros also said that “China’s efforts should be recognized.”
In light of China’s growing influence in the World Health Organization, US President Trump accused the World Health Organization of favoring China. The United States was once the organization’s largest funder and has now stopped providing funding.
It has been a year since the outbreak of the new corona epidemic in China to the fact that more than 87 million people have been diagnosed globally and more than 1.8 million have died. However, there is still no independent and transparent investigation into the origin of the virus. The controversy over the source once caused tension between China and many countries, especially between the United States and China.
China was criticized for obstructing the investigation, but the WHO stated that it would work hard to conduct a full investigation regardless of political factors. For months, the WHO has been trying to send an international team of 10 experts to China to investigate the animal origins of the virus pandemic and how the virus first spread to humans.
After months of negotiations with the WHO, Beijing agreed to the long-awaited investigation. The WHO decided last month that a team of experts will enter Wuhan and enter China in January 2021 to begin investigations.
The origin of the virus and political tensions
Initially, there was an opinion that the virus originated from a market in Wuhan that sold rare animal meat. But the argument remains highly controversial. Some experts believe that the market may not be the source of the virus, but it has been magnified.
Some studies have shown that the coronavirus that can infect humans may have been circulating in bats for decades without being detected. But it is not yet clear which intermediate animal hosts transmit the virus between bats and humans.
Solving the mystery about the origin of the virus will help prevent similar pandemics in the future and help scientists develop vaccines and find treatments.
In May this year, after more than 100 countries signed a resolution calling for an independent investigation, the WHO agreed to launch an investigation.
But just before the WHO team’s departure, Chinese officials and state media once again questioned the source of the virus. On January 2, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in an interview with state media Xinhua News Agency and CCTV that “more and more studies have shown that the epidemic is likely to be an outbreak. in various places around the world. ”
The WHO said that two members of the international team who had already left for China had already left early on Tuesday (5). According to a Reuters report, Mike Ryan, WHO’s emergency chief, said one of them has returned and the other is currently in another country.
It is still unknown whether the WHO can successfully launch an investigation in China.
