Experts from the World Health Organization are due to arrive in China this week for a long-anticipated investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, the government said Monday.
The experts will arrive on Thursday and meet with Chinese counterparts, the National Health Commission said in a one-sentence statement that gave no other details.
It wasn바카라™t immediately clear whether the experts would be travelling to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected in late 2019.
Negotiations for the visit have long been underway. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed disappointment last week over delays, saying that members of the international scientific team departing from their home countries had already started on their trip as part of an arrangement between the WHO and the Chinese government.
China바카라™s government has strictly controlled all research at home into the origins of the virus, an Associated Press investigation found, while state-owned media have played up fringe theories that suggest the virus could have originated elsewhere.
The AP investigation found that China바카라™s government is handing out hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to scientists researching the virus바카라™ origins in southern China. But it is monitoring their findings and mandating that the publication of any data or research must be approved by a new task force managed by China바카라™s Cabinet, under direct orders from President Xi Jinping, according to internal documents obtained by the AP.
The culture of secrecy is believed to have delayed warnings about the pandemic, blocked the sharing of information with the WHO and hampered early testing. Australia and other countries have called for an investigation into the origins of the virus, prompting angry responses from Beijing.
After Tedros바카라™ statement, China바카라™s Foreign Ministry said that the country was open to a visit by WHO experts, but that it was still working on 바카라śnecessary procedures and relevant concrete plans.바카라ť China바카라™s disease experts are currently busy with multiple small-scale virus clusters and outbreaks that have been reported in the past couple of weeks, ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.
바카라śOur experts are wholeheartedly in the stressful battle to control the epidemic,바카라ť Hua said.
There was no immediate comment from the WHO on Monday바카라™s announcement, but U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric had earlier told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres 바카라śis fully supportive of Dr. Tedros바카라™ and WHO바카라™s efforts to get a team in there.바카라ť
바카라śIt바카라™s very important that as the WHO is in the lead in fighting the pandemic, that it also has a leading role in trying to look back at the roots of this pandemic so we can be better prepared for the next one,바카라ť Dujarric said. 바카라śWe very much hope바카라ť that China바카라™s reported comments that it is working with the WHO and looking for a smooth visit 바카라świll happen.바카라ť
The virus바카라™ origins have been the source of intense speculation, much of it centred around the likelihood that it was carried by bats and passed to humans through an intermediary species sold as food or medicine in traditional Chinese wet markets.
China has largely stemmed new cases of domestic transmission but said Monday that scores of people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Hebei province, bordering Beijing.
That outbreak comes amid measures to curb the further spread of the virus during next month바카라™s Lunar New Year holiday. Authorities have called on citizens not to travel, ordered schools closed a week early and conducted testing on a massive scale.
China has recorded 87,536 total cases of the virus, including 4,634 deaths. Hospitals are currently treating 673 people for Covid-19, while 506 others are in isolation and under observation after testing positive without showing symptoms., officials said.
The Hebei outbreak has raised particular concern because of the province바카라™s proximity to Beijing. Parts of the province are under lockdown and interprovincial travel has been largely cut off, with those entering Beijing to work having to show proof of employment and a clean bill of health.
Beijing has also seen a handful of new cases, prompting authorities to lock down some suburban communities and require residents to show negative test results to access grocery stores and other public spaces.
