China Allows WHO to Send Expert Team to Beijing For Tracing Origin of COVID-19

Beijing, July 8: China on Wednesday allowed the World Health Organisation (WHO) to send a team of experts to Beijing for tracing the origin of COVID19. The visit will take place more than six months after the WHO’s Country Office in China picked up a statement from the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission on cases of ‘viral pneumonia’.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian in a statement said, “After consultation, the Chinese government has agreed that WHO will send a team of experts to Beijing to trace the origin of COVID-19.” The WHO’s team of experts will visit the country this week to investigate the origins of the virus and its spread to human beings. Coronavirus Outbreak: China Confirms Unauthorised Labs Were Asked to Destroy Early Samples Taken From COVID-19 Patients.

Statement by Chinese Foreign Ministry: 

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke in January about an agreement with China for sending a team of international experts “as soon as possible” to work on increasing the understanding of the outbreak. Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, WHO said that the Chinese government had reported an outbreak of “typical pneumonia cases” from Wuhan on December 31.

The deadly virus has claimed over half a million lives. Till now, more than 1.1 people have contracted coronavirus globally. The United States is the worst-hit country by the pandemic. Meanwhile, in China, 4,600 people have succumbed to coronavirus.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 08, 2020 06:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).