How did covid-19 come about?
WHO wants to answer that question with the help of a team of specialists who are now on site in Wuhan, where the pandemic broke out just over a year ago.
- We have received new information and it is good, it is valuable stuff that helps us look in the right direction for this virus, says WHO doctor Peter Daszak on site in Wuhan.
Together with his colleagues, Daszak will now turn every stone in order to find the reasons why covid-19 was formed.
To succeed in this, they will, among other things, visit the places that played a crucial role in the spread of infection, including the food market in Wuhan which has been pointed out as the virus' "ground zero".
Promises to follow the tracks
- They share data with us that we have not seen before, that no one has seen before.
They talk openly with us about every conceivable possibility.
We are really something on the track and I think all the coal players in the team agree with me, says Daszak.
There have been many speculations about the origin of the contagious virus since the beginning of the pandemic.
The WHO has previously expressed disappointment that China did not allow the organization into the country in order to conduct the survey, and critics have been skeptical about whether the team on site really has the opportunity to do its job without the regime's intervention.
But according to Peter Daszak, the virus hunt will be conducted without blinders.
- If there is data that points to a specific hypothesis, we will follow the data, we will follow the tracks to where they lead us.