WUHAN, China — A World Health Organization team investigating the origins of the coronavirus pandemic visited two disease control centers on Monday that had an early hand in managing the outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
WUHAN, China — A World Health Organization team investigating the origins of the coronavirus pandemic visited two disease control centers on Monday that had an early hand in managing the outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
The WHO investigators arrived in Wuhan, the provincial capital, last month to look for clues and have visited hospitals and a seafood market where early cases were detected.
The team on Monday visited both the Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and its Wuhan city office, amid tight Chinese controls on access to information about the virus.
China has sought to avoid blame for alleged missteps in its early response to the outbreak, while promoting alternative theories that the virus originated elsewhere and may even have been brought to Wuhan from outside the country.
Following the visit to the provincial center, team member Peter Daszak told reporters it had been a “really good meeting, really important.” No other details were given.
The evidence the team assembles will add to what is expected to be a years-long quest for answers. Pinning down an outbreak’s animal sources requires massive amounts of research, including taking animal samples, genetic analysis and epidemiological studies. In Geneva, WHO officials pushed back Monday against suggestions China is being less than forthcoming about how the pandemic started.
At a press briefing, WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove said the team has plans to visit the Wuhan Institute of Virology, among other sites.
“The more detail you have on the ground, the more questions you have,” she said.
