China Allows WHO to Investigate Origins of COVID-19
Occurs After World Health Organization Criticized China for Not Granting Them Access
After almost an entire year of negotiations, China has allowed the entry of a World Health Organization (WHO) team which aims to investigate the origins of COVID-19. This comes after the team was denied entry previously even though a few members were already en route. The announcement was made after strict movement restrictions were enforced in the Chinese capital of Beijing and other regions, which have seen spikes in infections.
The team comprises of 10 scientists who will undergo 14 days of quarantine before beginning their investigations. They aim to ‘understand and learn for the future of global preparedness.’ Professor Dale Fisher, Chair of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, said that
“it’s not about politics or blame but getting to the bottom of a scientific question.”
The team leader of the investigation, Peter Ben Embarek, said that it “could be a very long journey before we get a full understanding of what happened.”
This WHO team is expected to perform joint research with Chinese scientists in Wuhan, where the virus was first detected, and other Chinese regions.
Written by Jocelyne Tan
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