WHO team, probing origin of COVID-19, visits virology institute in China’s Wuhan

World Health Organization inspectors visited a virology institute in the Chinese city of Wuhan on Wednesday, AFP reported.  American officials have suggested that the laboratory could have been the source of the deadly novel coronavirus.

WHO team member Peter Daszak told reporters that the team was ‘looking forward to a very productive day and to asking all the questions that we know need to be asked’.

Scientists believe the COVID-19 virus, which was first detected in Wuhan and has till date killed more than two million people across the world, originated in bats and could have been transmitted to people via another mammal. However, there are no conclusive answers till now.

The inspection of the Wuhan virology institute, which studies some of the world’s most lethal diseases, is going to be one of the most-watched stops on the team’s visit to China.

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According to AFP, Chinese state broadcaster CGTN said that during their visit to the laboratory, the team would  ‘exchange ideas with experts of the institute on their daily work, international scientific cooperation, anti-epidemic efforts and contribution’.

On Sunday, the team went to the market in Wuhan where one of the first clusters of infections were reported over a year ago. According to Daszak, the stop had been ‘critical’ to their investigation. The team also toured a propaganda exhibition describing China’s recovery from the pandemic on Saturday.

Daszak also told journalists while visiting an animal disease control centre on Tuesday, that the mission was proceeding ‘very well’.

China has faced severe criticism within the international community for playing down the severity of the initial outbreak and concealing information of its spread when it first emerged in Wuhan, back in December 2019.