• The WHO team visits the live animal market in Wuhan, China

  • The WHO team comes out of quarantine and begins field work in Wuhan

  • WHO mission in Wuhan: experts visit first hospital that welcomed patients with Covid-19

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03 February 2021 Experts from the World Health Organization investigating the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic in Wuhan visited the maximum security laboratory of the Institute of Virology, which in recent months has been the focus of US suspicion for the spread of the coronavirus.



The team, led by delegation head Peter Ben Embarek, praises the ongoing investigation into the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic and collaboration with Chinese counterparts, confirming that all options are being examined by scientists.

"

They're sharing data with us that we haven't seen before

, which no one had seen before, "said Peter Daszak, a member of the team of international experts in Wuhan these days, in an interview with Sky News." They speak openly to us about every possible way.

We are really making progress and I think every member of the group can tell. ”



The scientist, president of the NGO EcoHealth Alliance, dedicated to the protection of wildlife and humans from emerging infectious diseases, also cited last Sunday's visit to the Huanan market. , the first known outbreak of Covid-19, during which they met and questioned executives, merchants, customers and those who collected samples, obtaining information "that really matters." 



The mission of international scientists in Wuhan was preceded by a long negotiations with China and much controversy over the obstacles posed by Beijing, which had generated frustration in the WHO Secretary General himself, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. 



The spotlight was mainly on today's visit to the maximum security laboratory of the Institute of Virology of Wuhan, due to the criticism rained down on China last year by the US administration led by Donald Trump on st

security andard and the suspicion that the virus may have exited the facility.

"We are aware of the hypotheses about the potential involvement of the lab, and we will certainly ask questions about all essential aspects of the Wuhan Institute of Virology," concluded Daszak, adding that "everything is on the table and we are keeping an open mind."



Today is the sixth day of investigations in the territory for international scientists who have arrived in Wuhan: after 14 days of quarantine following their entry into China, WHO experts have visited hospitals, met Chinese colleagues and been to the market since last Friday. Huanan, where the first outbreak of the disease occurred at the end of 2019, closed on January 1, 2020. Yesterday, however, they visited a veterinary facility.

There is no complete calendar of the stages of the mission, the expected duration of which is two weeks.