WHO experts to begin investigations into origin of COVID-19 from Wuhan

 The beginning of the WHO team's investigation in Wuhan has been long-awaited by the rest of the world. Wuhan was the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak last year.

The team of 13 experts from the World Health Organization is set to start its investigation on the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

The WHO team will complete its 14-day quarantine period today, which will finally allow them to begin their field visits and initiate their investigation. 

Wuhan was the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak last year.

Key Highlights 

•The international team of experts from the World Health Organization arrived in China on January 14 to conduct joint research with Chinese scientists to trace the origin of the deadly COVID-19 virus. 

•The team comprising 13 experts from 10 countries including the UK, US, Vietnam and Russia flew in from Singapore.

•Upon their arrival, the scientists were taken through a bubble-barrier corridor to a bus, which took them to their quarantine accommodation.

•Over the past two weeks, the team has been interacting with each other and Chinese scientists through video calls.

•After their quarantine period is over, the team is expected to start its work immediately to determine how Wuhan became the world's first COVID-19 epicenter.

•Their investigations will including interviews with people at area hospitals and from the Southwest China Wholesale Seafood Market, which was believed to be ground-zero for the virus' jump from animals into humans. 

Background

A WHO team, which had visited China in February 2020, had concluded that the COVID-19 virus appeared to have a zoonotic origin, with the outbreak likely to have begun with a seafood market in Wuhan. 

Last week, an Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response had criticised both WHO and China, saying that they could have acted faster and more forcefully to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.

Many countries including the United States have accused China for downplaying the severity of the outbreak during its early stages thus, preventing an effective response until it was too late.