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BEIJING: An expert mission to China to investigate the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic was disrupted on Wednesday after Beijing denied entry to the World Health Organization team at the last minute despite months of arduous negotiations.
Ten experts were due to arrive in China this week for the delicate and highly politicized task of establishing how and where the virus jumped from animals to humans.
But with several of the team members already in transit, China denied them entry visas, prompting WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to say he was “very disappointed.”
China is apparently determined to control the origin story of the virus, which has killed more than 1.8 million people worldwide and devastated global economies.
The first cases of the coronavirus were recorded in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, prompting accusations of chaotic and secretive handling by Chinese authorities that led to its spread beyond China. US President Donald Trump called the pandemic the “China virus.”
Beijing Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying confirmed that the WHO team had not been admitted as planned, saying “it was not just a visa issue.” “The issue of origin tracing is incredibly complicated,” he told reporters at a regular news conference.
“To ensure that the work of the international team of experts in China runs smoothly, we have to carry out the necessary procedures and make the necessary arrangements.”
Talks were continuing on “the specific date and specific arrangement for the expert group’s visit,” Hua added, despite months of negotiations already invested in preparing the trip.
The origins of Covid-19 remain bitterly controversial, lost in a fog of recriminations and conjecture from the international community. The WHO trip was seen as an important way to cut the grudge and seek clear answers on how it started.
“We all worked with the understanding that the team would begin deploying today,” said WHO Emergency Director Michael Ryan. He stressed the “absolutely critical character” of the mission.
Scientists initially believed that the virus jumped to humans at a market that sold exotic animals for meat in Wuhan. But experts now think that the market may not have been the origin of the outbreak, but rather a place where it was amplified.
Posted in Dawn, Jan 7, 2021
