WHO team visits Wuhan Institute of Virginology at the heart of speculation | Coronavirus News

Wuhan, China (AP) — A World Health Organization investigator visited a research center in Wuhan, China, which has been the subject of speculation about the origin of the coronavirus on Wednesday. Put pressure on them on serious issues.

The WHO team’s visit to the Wuhan Institute of Virginology was a highlight of their mission to collect data and look for clues as to where the virus originated and how it spread.

According to a video run by Japanese broadcaster TBS, zoologist and team member Peter Daszak said, “I look forward to meeting all the key figures here and asking all the important questions that need to be asked. I have. “

Reporters tracked the team and went to high-security facilities, but like past visits, they rarely had direct access to team members who provided little detail on previous discussions and visits. Security guards in uniforms and plain clothes stood along the gated front door of the facility, but there were no signs of protective clothing worn by team members when visiting the Animal Disease Research Center on Tuesday. It was not clear what kind of protective equipment was worn in the laboratory.

The team departed about three hours later without talking to a waiting journalist.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a daily briefing that he met with experts from Huazhong Agricultural University on Wednesday.

“It should be noted that virus traceability is a complex scientific issue and professionals need to provide ample space for scientific research,” Wang said. “China will continue to work with WHO in an open, transparent and responsible manner to better prevent future risks and contribute to the protection of the lives and health of people in all countries.”

After two weeks of quarantine, a WHO team of veterinary, virology, food safety, and epidemiology experts from 10 countries has traditionally been associated with many of the hospitals, research institutes, and first cases over the past six days. I visited a fresh market. Their visit was seen as an attempt to avoid liability for failure in the initial response, following months of negotiations, as China sought to tightly control information about the outbreak and its source investigation.

The Wuhan Institute of Veterinary Medicine, one of China’s top virus laboratories, has built an archive of genetic information about the bat coronavirus after the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003. That has led to unproven claims that it may be related to COVID-19 that occurred in Wuhan in late 2019.

China has strongly denied that possibility, and there is no evidence that the virus may have originated elsewhere or that it may have been brought into the country from abroad by importing frozen seafood contaminated with the virus. I also promoted the theory. This concept has been totally rejected by international scientists and institutions.

The deputy director of the institute is Shi Zhengli, a virologist who worked with Dazak to track the origin of SARS, which occurred in China and led to the 2003 outbreak. She widely published to academic journalists and worked to uncover the theory that the virus was either a biological weapon or a “laboratory leak” from the institute, supported by the former Trump administration and other US authorities.

Confirming the origin of the virus can take several years. Identifying outbreak animal depots usually requires extensive research, including animal sampling, genetic analysis, and epidemiological studies. One possibility is that a wildlife poacher may have passed the virus to a trader who carried the virus to Wuhan.

The first cluster of COVID-19 was detected in Wuhan in late 2019, eventually urging the government to put 11 million cities under a strict 76-day blockade. Since then, China has reported more than 89,000 cases and 4,600 deaths, with new cases predominantly concentrated in northeastern and rural blockades and travel restrictions imposed to contain outbreaks. I will.

Only 15 cases were reported on Wednesday as the government urged not to travel to China’s Chinese New Year holidays later this month, and new cases of community outbreaks continue to decline.