Search for Discovery of Coronavirus Origin in Wuhan
A team from the World Health Organization has traveled to Wuhan to investigate and examine the source of the coronavirus. Chinese officials view this team’s work with suspicion.
The mission of members of the World Health Organization (WHO) in China has begun. They traveled to Wuhan two weeks ago and after spending 14 days in quarantine, they have now started their work in this city; a city where the COVID-19 lung disease first showed its complications.
The goal of the 13 members of the international expert group is to determine where the SARS-CoV-2 virus first originated and how it spread.
Based on genetic research, it is believed that the virus was transmitted from a type of bat to another animal and then infected humans.
There are speculations that the virus leaked from a laboratory; however, the People’s Republic of China has completely rejected this possibility.
The WHO team intends to conduct discussions and research in hospitals and animal markets to reach the initial symptoms of the pandemic.
This research work is not only of medical importance, but at the same time has a clear political aspect. That is why the Chinese government only agreed to it after considerable efforts and issued visas for the research group. China fears being identified in the world as the primary source of the disease.
In early last year, the city of Wuhan was completely cut off from the outside world for 11 weeks. This major city in central China was identified as the first major epicenter of the pandemic in the world. By mid-May last year, out of more than 80,000 cases of illness in China, approximately 50,000 cases were related to Wuhan.
Now the hustle and bustle of work and activity have returned to this city.
For several months, Chinese leaders have even denied that the disease started in China. Unconfirmed reports are being presented suggesting that evidence of the pandemic was observed earlier in other countries.
Some Chinese leaders and media outlets are fueling the hypothesis that the virus likely entered China along with frozen food products from other countries. However, this hypothesis has been scientifically considered unlikely.
Experts from the World Health Organization are hopeful that they can obtain some key information with the help of their Chinese colleagues. Their initial goal is to become informed of the level of research and collect existing information data.
According to official statistics since the beginning of the corona pandemic at the end of 2019 to now, more than 100 million people worldwide have contracted COVID-19, and more than two million people have died as a result of this deadly disease. In the United States alone, more than 400,000 people have lost their lives due to coronavirus infection.
The People’s Republic has largely contained the virus in such a way that nowadays only limited cases are seen in limited areas. As soon as each new case appears, the entire area is placed under complete lockdown.
Since the end of January 2020, the Chinese government has imposed severe restrictions in major cities of the country, including travel bans, cutting off personal contacts, and extensive testing of citizens.
Source: DW
