[ad_1]
WUHAN, China (Reuters) – With researchers from the World Health Organization (WHO) scheduled to visit China next year, Wuhan residents say they want the team to come to the central city, hoping they can prove that the virus did not originate there. .
An international team of researchers is expected to travel to China in January, the WHO said on Thursday, more than a year after the first identified cluster of COVID-19 infections was linked to the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan.
“I welcome you to come. We also want to know how it developed, specifically where it came from, if the source of the virus is here,” said a Wuhan resident surnamed Wan, as he walked to work Thursday morning.
“My feeling is that it’s not from there,” he added, referring to the seafood market.
The WHO did not confirm whether its team will go to Wuhan and said discussions about the itinerary were ongoing. A two-member WHO team visited China in July, but did not visit Wuhan.
Reuters previously reported, citing a member and diplomats, that a team of 12-15 international experts will visit Wuhan to examine evidence, including human and animal samples collected by Chinese researchers, and to build on their initial studies.
Beijing has strongly opposed calls for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, but said it has been open to a WHO-led investigation.
China’s Foreign Ministry did not comment directly on the WHO visit during a daily press conference on Thursday.
“China is willing to enhance its cooperation with WHO to advance global tracking efforts and contribute our part in our early victory against the pandemic,” said spokesman Wang Wenbin.
Many questions remain about the origins of COVID-19 and the role that Wuhan’s exotic wildlife trade may have played in it.
Although authorities closed the Huanan market in January, there is a growing scientific consensus that the virus did not originate there. Some studies suggest that it was already in circulation when it hit the market, with more than one transmission route.
China still strictly restricts access to places like the Huanan market, which remains empty and closed even though normal life has largely resumed in Wuhan and throughout China.
Beijing has also been pushing a narrative that the virus existed abroad before it was found in Wuhan and, unlike other countries, cites frozen food packaging as a risk of spreading COVID-19.
“There is a strong possibility that it was brought in via wholesale seafood from elsewhere. Wuhan has no seafood,” said Jiang Yongcheng, a 20-year-old student from Wuhan.
Others said a WHO visit is an opportunity to show how well the city has done in fighting the virus. Wuhan has not reported a locally transmitted case since May 10, after a 76-day lockdown that was one of the strictest in the world.
“We are not afraid of their investigation,” said Liu Qin, who works in real estate. “As you can see from the epidemic this year, things were done well in Wuhan, otherwise the epidemic would not have been controlled quickly.”
(Reporting by Emily Chow in Wuhan; Additional reporting by Cate Cadell in Beijing; Written by Brenda Goh; Edited by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
[ad_2]
