WHO Investigation Team Commences Work in China
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02/02/2021 |
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The international WHO team comprising scientists representing diverse disciplines has commenced investigations in China as to the origin of COVID-19. The team was in quarantine for 14 days during which they conducted Zoom meetings with their counterparts in public health agencies in China.
The starting point is the Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine that was the first institution to record "pneumonia of unknown origin" on December 27th 2019. The investigating team has requested data and the opportunity to interview patients and physicians. The team has also visited the Hunan Seafood Market, the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Wuhan Center for Disease Control.
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Wuhan Institute of Virology
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WHO Team Investigating Origin of COVID in Wuhan |
Despite politicization of the origin of SARS-CoV-2, WHO scientists confirmed that "all hypotheses are on the table as the they follow science in their work to understand the origins of COVID-19".
Determining the origin of the virus will take considerable time and will involve evaluation of samples, genetic analysis and epidemiologic studies. The Wuhan Institute of Virology has an extensive library of bat coronaviruses that were collected after the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
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| On October 17th 2020 the Thirteenth National People's Congress adopted the "Biosecurity Law of the People's Republic of China". This extensive document requires laboratories to strengthen biosecurity and management of pathogens to meet national standards and requirements. It is interesting that the Biosecurity Law was codified and developed shortly before the appearance of COVID-19 preceding the April 15th 2021 projected date of implementation. |
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