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Expert Dominic Dwyer was sampled by Chinese medical personnel on February 3 in Wuhan – Photo: REUTERS
Mr. Dwyer is one of the members of the World Health Organization (WHO) expert group conducting field trips in China. As an infectious disease specialist, Dwyer says more research is needed to discover the origin of COVID-19.
Dwyer said the group has completed field visits and is preparing to present its findings as clearly as possible, before the group’s 28-day visa expires next weekend.
During their stay in China, the WHO expert team visited the Hainan market in Wuhan, known as the “zero site” of the pandemic. The experts also went to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is suspected of spreading the SARS-CoV-2 virus to the environment.
More research will be needed to determine how animal-to-human transmission is possible, why there are asymptomatic people, and how their antibodies appear, Dwyer said.
According to this expert, the enigma is that nobody knows exactly who patient number 0 is because there are many people who carry the pathogen in their body but have no symptoms.
“In the short term, it’s just about looking at what we know now and putting all that data together for a bunch of long-term projects. It could take years,” says Dwyer. Opinion.
Strict protection in front of the Wuhan Institute of Virology on February 3 – Photo: REUTERS
According to Dwyer, even another expert, Peter Daszak, finds it difficult and complicated to understand the origin of COVID-19. Mr. Daszak specializes in human zoonotic infectious diseases and is part of the WHO China team of fieldwork experts.
The trip that lasted less than 1 week was extended to almost a month because the group of experts had to be quarantined for 14 days upon arrival in China. They also do not have access to foreign media and the security forces control the places visited.
The origins of COVID-19 have been politicized following accusations that China is not transparent about early handling of the outbreak. In response, Beijing promoted the hypothesis that the virus could have originated elsewhere besides China.
