BEIJING (AP) – World Health Organization experts are due to arrive in China this week for a long-awaited investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, the government said on Monday.
The experts will arrive on Thursday and will meet with Chinese counterparts, the National Health Commission said in a one-sentence statement that did not give further details.
It was not immediately clear whether the experts would travel to downtown Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected in late 2019.
Negotiations for the visit began a long time ago. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed disappointment last week at the delays, saying members of the international scientific team leaving their home countries had already begun their journey as part of an agreement between the WHO and the Chinese government.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China approved the visit following consultations between the parties and called it an opportunity to “exchange views with Chinese scientists and medical experts on scientific cooperation on tracing the origin of the new coronavirus ”.
“Along with the ongoing changes in the epidemic, our knowledge of the virus is deepening and earlier cases are being discovered,” Zhao told reporters in a daily briefing, adding that the search for the origin will likely involve “more countries and localities.”
Chinese government tightly controls all home research on virus origins, Associated Press investigation finds, while state media played marginal theories suggesting that the virus could have originated elsewhere.
The AP investigation found that the Chinese government provides hundreds of thousands of dollars in subsidies to scientists investigating the origins of the virus in southern China. But it monitors their findings and requires that the publication of any data or research be approved by a new task force administered by the Chinese Cabinet, under the direct orders of President Xi Jinping, according to internal documents obtained by the PA.
The secret culture is believed to have delayed pandemic warnings, blocked the exchange of information with the WHO and prevented early testing. Australia and other countries have called for an investigation into the origins of the virus, prompting furious responses from Beijing.
There was no immediate comment from the WHO on Monday’s announcement, but UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told UN reporters in New York earlier that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “fully supports Dr. Tedros’ efforts and of WHO to get a team there. “
“It is very important that WHO is at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic, so that it also has a leading role in trying to look back at the roots of this pandemic, so that we can be better prepared for the next one,” said Dujarric. “We very much hope” that China reported commenting that it is working with the WHO and seeking a smooth visit “will happen”.
The origins of the virus have been the source of intense speculation, much of it focusing on the likelihood that it was transported by bats and transmitted to humans through an intermediate species sold as food or medicine in traditional Chinese wetlands.
China has largely outpaced the new domestic transmission cases, but said on Monday that dozens of people tested positive for coronavirus in Hebei province, on the border with Beijing.
This outbreak comes amid measures to reduce the further spread of the virus during next month’s Lunar New Year holiday. Authorities urged citizens not to travel, ordered the closure of schools a week earlier and conducted massive tests.
China has a total of 87,536 virus cases, including 4,634 deaths. Hospitals currently treat 673 people for COVID-19, while another 506 are isolated and under observation after giving positive results without symptoms.
The Hebei fire has raised particular concerns over Beijing’s proximity to the province. Parts of the province are blocked and interprovincial travel has been largely interrupted, those entering Beijing to work must provide proof of employment and a clean health bill.
Beijing has also seen a handful of new cases, prompting authorities to block some suburban communities and ask residents to show negative test results to access grocery stores and other public spaces.