NOEL CELIS / GETTY
After months of negotiations, the Chinese Communist Party agreed to an investigation by the World Health Organization (WHO) into the origins of the coronavirus in December. This investigation got off to an unpleasant start with members of the WHO team being denied entry to China.
On Tuesday, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva that Chinese officials had not yet given WHO investigators approval. Two members of the 10-person team were on their way to China when it became known that Chinese officials were not allowed in the country. One has returned home while another is temporarily in another country.
Top tips from the editors
Subscribe to CNET Now for the day's most engaging reviews, news, and videos.
"In the past 24 hours, members of the international scientific team on the development of COVID-19 virus have started traveling to China from their home countries," said Ghebreyesus. "Today we learned that Chinese officials have not yet completed the necessary permits for the team to arrive in China."
"I have been assured that China is speeding up the internal process for the earliest possible engagement."
The first cases of COVID-19 were discovered in December 2019 in Wuhan, a city in China's Hubei province, but scientists do not know the exact origins of the virus. It is believed to have been transported from one species to the next, likely originating from a bat and mutating along the way, before widespread transmission via the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan.
Several governments, including those of the US, India, and Australia, have called for an international investigation into the origins of COVID-19. Consider the practice of "wet markets" such as the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which keeps many, often exotic species in close proximity to one another that are believed to be breeding grounds for animal-to-animal transmission of the coronavirus mutate quickly. Separately, the question arises to what extent the Chinese government has tried to cover up the virus, accidentally allowing it to spread around the world.
The WHO investigation sought answers to the first problem. The WHO team plans to investigate Huanan seafood wholesale (along with other wet markets across Wuhan), visit nearby medical facilities, and speak to the first registered COVID-19 patients. The probe will then be extended to regions across China.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions about a disease or health goals.
