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The WHO expert team arrived in Wuhan and began to investigate the origin of the new corona epidemic.
The WHO said on Thursday (Jan 14) that 13 scientists have already arrived in Wuhan, but the other two members had a negative nucleic acid test while transiting Singapore, and their serum tested positive for new corona antibodies, so they were unable to board the plane.
The list previously announced by the WHO showed that the team visiting China this time consisted of 15 international scientists, including epidemiologists and zoologists from the United States, Britain, Russia, Vietnam, Qatar and other countries.
The expert team will visit relevant personnel in research institutions, hospitals and the South China seafood market.
The 13 scientists arrived on Thursday morning (January 14). At present, a new round of outbreaks has begun in northern China, and life in Wuhan is relatively normal.
The team will begin the investigation after a two-week quarantine, and the investigation will be based on samples and tests provided by Chinese officials.
Image source,Reuters
BBC documentary: a year after the outbreak, how Wuhan changed forever
The objective of the investigation is to find the source of the animal infection of the global pandemic. You have experienced many obstacles before.
Earlier this month, the WHO stated that one member of the investigation team was denied entry to China, one member was sent back, and the other was trapped on the flight layover, making the WHO rarely publicly express their dissatisfaction.
Beijing later stated that this was a misunderstanding and noted that specific arrangements for the investigation were still under discussion.
Wuhan is the first place where the new corona epidemic broke out, but the origin and host of the virus are still uncertain. Scientists say finding the source of the virus will help prevent similar pandemics in the future and help scientists develop vaccines and find treatments.
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Analysts believe that if the team of experts is allowed to speak to their Chinese counterparts, check previous blood samples and study lung X-rays stored in local hospitals, they may have more insight into when and where the epidemic initially started.
China has been propagating the “multiple origin theory” through official media for many months, implying that China may not be the source of the epidemic.
Professor Dale Fisher, president of the WHO Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, told the BBC that he hopes the world will treat this trip as a scientific expedition.
“This has nothing to do with politics, and it is not for accusations, but a scientific question,” he said.
Professor Fisher also said that most scientists believe that this virus is a “natural event.”
Image source,fake images
In the initial stage of the new corona epidemic, many cases were related to the wet market.
On Thursday, China reported its first death from the new coronavirus in eight months.
China has largely controlled the spread of the epidemic through large-scale testing, strict lockdown measures, and strict travel restrictions.
However, hundreds of new infections have reappeared in recent weeks, most of them in Hebei province near Beijing and Heilongjiang province in the northeast.
