Covid-19: a WHO mission on the way to China, without the green light from Beijing
Live from WHO Tedros Ghebreyesus at a press conference in Geneva in May 2020. AP - Salvatore Di Nolfi
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
WHO is sending a team to Wuhan to try to understand the origins of Covid-19.
But Beijing is slow to give the green light to the experts.
In Geneva, the WHO, sometimes accused of complacency towards China, raises the tone.
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With our correspondent in Geneva,
Jérémie Lanche
This is called a false start.
While the media announced the imminent arrival of a dozen experts from the World Health Organization in China, the head of the agency corrected the information in person.
Despite months of preparation and negotiations with the Chinese authorities, they have not yet issued all the necessary authorizations, explained
Tedros Ghebreyesus.
In a rare criticism of Beijing, he expressed his annoyance.
“
I am very disappointed.
Especially since two people have already left
.
And that the other members of the team found themselves stranded at the last minute.
I have been in contact with the Chinese authorities, and I have been very clear on the fact that the WHO considers this mission a priority
”, declared the head of the WHO.
WHO assures us that this is an administrative problem that should be quickly resolved.
Still, the case is embarrassing for the organization, which has always spared Beijing since the start of the pandemic.
Beijing could well delay the arrival of experts for reasons more political than scientific by starting the mission of the WHO after
the departure of Donald Trump
from the White House.
And this while doubts remain about the possibility for experts to collect decisive data in Wuhan, more than a year after the appearance of the virus.
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China
Coronavirus
Health and medicine