A new outbreak of coronavirus has been discovered in the Wuhan region.

-

NEW CHINA / SIPA

The announcement falls one year to the day after the first death of Covid-19 in Wuhan.

Investigators from the World Health Organization (WHO) will finally be able to enter China on Thursday and begin their investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, the Chinese Ministry of Health announced on Monday.

This visit is ultra-sensitive for Beijing, anxious to avoid any responsibility for the epidemic which has killed more than 1.9 million people worldwide.

Initially scheduled last week, it was canceled at the last minute for lack of all the necessary permissions for the team.

Mandatory quarantine

“After discussions, the WHO team of experts […] will travel to China from January 14 for inspections.

They will conduct joint research with Chinese scientists on the origins of Covid-19, ”the Ministry of Health said in a brief statement.

Beijing did not provide details on how the visit would go, but investigators are expected to be quarantined upon arrival on Chinese soil.

In a rare criticism of China, the head of the WHO regretted last week that his investigators were unable to visit the country.

Cross accusations

The Chinese green light comes one year to the day after the announcement of the first death in China of what was still at the time a mysterious virus.

The country has since succeeded in virtually eradicating the disease from its soil.

The authorities do not miss an opportunity to cast doubts on the Chinese origin of the virus, when they had initially blamed a market in Wuhan where live animals were sold.

But Beijing could not prevent US President Donald Trump from regularly accusing him of having spread "the Chinese virus" on the planet - even of having let it escape from a virology laboratory in Wuhan, the city ​​in the center of the country where the virus appeared at the end of 2019. A sign of nervousness, the communist authorities sentenced to four years in prison a citizen journalist, Zhang Zhan, who had covered the quarantine of Wuhan at the end of December.

World

Coronavirus: Shijiazhuang and Xingtai, two cities cut off from the world near Beijing

Politics

Coronavirus: Brigitte Macron in turn positive for Covid-19 on December 24, no longer has any symptoms

  • Investigation

  • World

  • China

  • Covid 19

  • Oms

  • Coronavirus