WHO Covid origin team visits China but not Wuhan

Officials starting inquiry are criticised for bypassing the city where known virus cases first emerged

A WORLD Health Organisation team sent to China to investigate the origins of coronavirus did not visit Wuhan, where the pandemic first emerged last year.

The WHO reiterated yesterday that the two officials who visited China were part of an “advance mission” whose role was to lay the groundwork and terms of reference for the international investigation into the origins of SARS-COV-2.

Dave Sharma, an Australian MP, told The Financial Times: “It is another disturbing incident of the WHO – which is charged with safeguarding global public health – putting the political sensitivities of a member state above the public health interests of the world.”

The US has also been critical of both

Chinese and WHO handling of the outbreak. The WHO said the visit to China had been successfully completed and that a call on all WHO member states to propose experts for the mission was expected to be issued shortly.

Once selected, the international team is expected to visit China, including Wuhan, later this year, say WHO sources. Exact timings will depend on how long the selection process takes and travel conditions dictated by the progress of the pandemic.

It is understood the two officials in the advance party had a “productive” trip. They were quarantined in a hotel outside Beijing for the best part of two weeks but conducted multiple calls each day with Chinese counterparts.

Further time was spent in meetings in Beijing. This included “extensive” discussions with their Chinese counterparts, including video conversations with scientists from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Chinese scientists are gathering evidence and conducting preliminary research ahead of the investigation in co-operation with overseas experts. This is expected to be shared with the WHO and its mission members once the investigation formally starts.

The idea that two officials would visit Wuhan to sort out the origins of the disease before the terms of reference had been set or the members of the international team selected was fanciful, said sources.

The investigation into the origins of the virus will be a Herculean scientific effort that may never bear fruit. Most experts say so-called spillover events, where animal viruses are picked up by humans, are constantly happening. Most burn out naturally but a few explode.

The most important thing in terms of preventing another pandemic, say experts, is not to pinpoint a precise event but to understand the environmental conditions – animal husbandry, supply chains, food processing – that increase the risk of a major outbreak.

Many of the initial cases of Covid-19 were linked to a seafood market in Wuhan.