WHO team visits Wuhan virus lab at centre of speculation

The WHO team’s visit to the Wuhan Institute of Virology is a highlight of their mission

WHO team visits Wuhan virus lab at centre of speculation

China has promoted also unproven theories that the virus may have originated elsewhere.

World Health Organisation investigators on Wednesday visited a research centre in the Chinese

city of Wuhan that has been the subject of speculation about the origins of the coronavirus,

with one member saying they intended to meet key staff and press them on critical issues.

The WHO team’s visit to the Wuhan Institute of Virology is a highlight of their mission to

gather data and search for clues as to where the virus originated and how it spread.

“We’re looking forward to meeting with all the key people here and asking all the important

questions that need to be asked,” zoologist and team member Peter Daszak said, according to

footage run by Japanese broadcaster TBS.

Reporters followed the team to the high-security facility, but as with past visits, there was little

direct access to team members, who have given scant details of their discussions and visits thus

far. Uniformed and plainclothes security guards stood to watch along the facility’s gated front

entrance, but there was no sign of the protective suits team members had donned Tuesday

during a visit to an animal disease research centre.

One of China’s top virus research labs, the institute built an archive of genetic information

about bat coronaviruses after the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. That

has led to unproven allegations that it may have a link to the original outbreak of COVID-19

in Wuhan in late 2019.

China has strongly denied that possibility and has promoted also unproven theories that the

virus may have originated elsewhere or even been brought into the country from overseas with

imports of frozen seafood tainted with the virus, a notion roundly rejected by international

scientists and agencies.

The institute’s deputy director is Shi Zhengli, a virologist who worked with Daszak to track

down the origins of SARS that originated in China and led to the 2003 outbreak. She has

published widely in academic journalists and worked to debunk theories espoused by the

former Trump administration and other American officials that the virus is either a bioweapon

or a “lab leak” from the institute.

Following two weeks in quarantine, the WHO team that includes experts from 10 nations has

visited hospitals, research institutes and a traditional wet market linked to many of the first

cases. Their visit followed months of negotiations as China seeks to retain tight control over

information about the outbreak and the investigation into its origins, possibly to avoid blame

for alleged missteps in its early response.

Confirmation of the origins of the virus is likely to take years. Pinning down an outbreak’s

animal reservoir typically requires exhaustive research, including taking animal samples,

genetic analysis and epidemiological studies. One possibility is that a wildlife poacher might

have passed the virus to traders who carried it to Wuhan.

The first clusters of COVID-19 were detected inWuhan in late 2019, eventually prompting the

government to put the city of 11 million under a strict 76-day lockdown. China has since

reported more than 89,000 cases and 4,600 deaths, with new cases largely concentrated in its

northeast and local lockdowns and travel restrictions being imposed to contain the outbreaks.

New cases of local transmission continue to fall with just 15 reported onWednesday as Chinese

heed government calls not to travel for the Lunar New Year holiday later this month.—AP

39 per cent people in Himachal suffer from obesity, 11.5 per cent diabetic

The study also shows that around 31 per cent people in the state suffer from hypertension.

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/health/who-team-visits-wuhan-virus-lab-at-centre-ofspeculation-

207336