WUHAN, China (AP) – A World Health Organization team investigating the origin of the coronavirus epidemic visited two disease control centers in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Monday.
WHO investigators arrived in the provincial capital Wuhan last month to search for clues and visited hospitals and seafood markets where initial cases were found.
On Monday the team visited both the disease control and its Wuhan city office for the Hubei Provincial Center, amid tight controls on access to information about the virus.
In an early response to the outbreak, China has tried to avoid blame for the alleged missteps, while promoting alternative theories that the virus has spread elsewhere and has even been brought to Wuhan from outside the country.
Peter Dasak, a member of the team, told reporters after visiting the provincial center that it was “a really good meeting, really important.” No other details were given.
The evidence the team collects is expected to lead to years of searching for answers. Reducing animal sources of outbreak requires extensive research, including animal sampling, genetic analysis, and epidemiological studies.
China has largely prevented domestic transmission through rigorous testing and contact tracing. Masks worn in public are almost universally observed and lockdown is regularly applied to communities and even entire cities where cases are found. The latest outbreaks occurred mostly in the extreme north-east, with 33 new cases reported nationally on Monday in three provinces.
However, in January, China reported more than 2,000 new domestic cases of COVID-19, the highest monthly total since the final phase of the initial outbreak in Wuhan last month. The disease killed two people in January, the first COVID-19 death in China in months.
Schools have gone online and travel has been drastically reduced during this month’s Lunar New Year holiday, with the government encouraging people to stay during important times for family gatherings across the vast nation.
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