Experts begin their study of the origin of the coronavirus in the city where the first cases were reported.
A team of World Health Organization experts is expected to begin field research into the origins of coronation in Wuhan, where COVID-19 was first registered in late 2019, after two weeks of hotel quarantine mandatory completion.
The team is expected to visit the Huanan Market where the first people became ill with the virus, as well as the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a nearby medical laboratory. They will also try to find out if the virus came from a bat, such as the more deadly Severe Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which was found back in a cave in the Yunnan region of China.
The WHO has confirmed that the study, which has been months in progress, is not about sharing the blame, but about understanding how the virus jumped and finding ways to prevent similar pathogens.
“As the pandemic continues to grow, it is vital that you understand the onset of epilepsy to prevent the introduction of SARS-CoV-2 viruses and to prevent the introduction of new viruses. into the future, “said the team ‘s Terms of Reference.
Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu was outside the hotel in Wuhan to talk to some members of the team, including Dutch geologist Marion Koopmans.
“Her main message was: ‘This is going to take some time, so be patient,'” Yu said.
A WHO team has been quarantined at a hotel in Wuhan for the past two weeks [Hector Retamal/AFP]
As COVID has spread over the past year, taking in countries far beyond China and leaving more than 2 million people dead and economies devastated, the pandemic has been ever-increasing politics. Former US President Donald Trump blamed China for the uprising, while the Communist Party of China tried to stifle the statement around renewing, harassing critics and bringing introduced the idea that the virus may have come from outside China.
‘Very optimistic’
Huanan Market – long cleaned and disinfected, and now closed – will be a major focus of their time in the city. Many of the earliest cases of new respiratory disease “secret” among residents suggested their connection to the market, which sold seafood but also a wide range of other live animals, including deer- alien life.
After two weeks of phone – based conversations, they visited the site for themselves to try to assess the market ‘s role in the revolution. The lab is also on schedule.
Some family members of those who died in the village have urged the investigators to speak to them but there is no clear indication that they will be able to do so.
Peter Daszak, who is on the team, told NBC News this week that the team had been receiving new data from China. Koopmans, meanwhile, told Al Jazeera that she was “very optimistic” about his work.
The team is also expected to visit the Wuhan Institute of Virology as part of their study into the origins of the coronavirus [Roman Pilipey/EPA]
The team visits as China moves to curb new incidents of COVID-19 ahead of Lunar New Year holidays [Alex Plavevski/EPA]
While China has managed to find out about what was going on in Wuhan with a tight lock and a major test, it is once again seeing new pockets of disease just days away from the Lunar New Year, the most important holiday in the country and when tens of millions of people usually travel home to see their families.
This year, authorities are encouraging people to stay tuned by offering special bonuses for those who keep working and refunds on tickets already purchased. Orders are said to have gone down 40 percent, Yu said.