International
WHO Team Arrives In Wuhan For Virus Investigation
- The trip comes as China moves to snuff out fresh clusters of the virus
- A province in China has declared an emergency due to the ravaging virus
A team of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) arrived in Wuhan on Thursday to probe the origins of the coronavirus more than a year after it emerged, as China reported its first death from COVID-19 in eight months.
AFP reports that the 10 scientists landed for their much-delayed mission, met by Chinese officials in hazmat suits and given throat swabs on arrival, and were whisked to a hotel where they must complete a two-week quarantine before starting their work.
The virus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and has since billowed out across the world killing nearly two million people so far, infecting tens of millions and eviscerating the global economy.
Read also: WHO Says 42 Countries Already Roll Out COVID-19 Vaccines
According to WHO, establishing the pathway of the virus from animals to humans is essential to preventing future outbreaks.
But despite painstaking months of negotiations over their remit, the team was blocked from arriving last week — a sign of the political sensitivity of a virus origin story muddied by recrimination between nations, conjecture and denials.
More than 20 million people are under lockdown in the north of China.
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