WUHAN, China (AP) – World Health Organization researchers looking for clues about the origin of the coronavirus in the central Chinese city of Wuhan said the Chinese side has provided a high level of cooperation, but warned that no immediate results of the visit were expected.
“I keep saying we need to be realistic, a short mission like this won’t have all the answers, but it helps advance the understanding of #virusorigin #wuhan,” said Hung Nguyen-Viet, co-director of Animal and Human The Health Program of the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya, said in a tweet on Thursday.
In a previous tweet, zoologist and team member Peter Daszak praised Wednesday’s meetings with staff at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, including Deputy Director Shi Zhengli, a virologist who worked with Daszak to trace the origins. of SARS originating in China caused the outbreak of 2003.
“Today, an extremely important meeting with WIV staff, including Dr. Shi Zhengli. Frank, open discussion. Key questions and answers, “tweeted Daszak.
The team on Thursday spent about two hours meeting with managers and residents at the Jiangxinyuan Community Administrative Center in Wuhan’s Hanyang District. No details were given.
Official statistics show that there were at least 16 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the community last year among about 10,000 people living there when the virus broke out.
Earlier, Daszak tweeted images from outside media at the virology institute, saying: “Thanking the press for their patience and interest in getting this news to the world. The work is progressing and we hope to be able to talk about the results as soon as possible. “
The Wuhan Institute of Virology has collected extensive samples of the virus, prompting allegations that have not shown it could have caused the original outbreak by filtering the virus into the surrounding community. China has strongly denied this possibility and has promoted unproven theories that the virus could have originated elsewhere.
Along with the institute, the WHO team that includes experts from ten countries has visited hospitals, research institutes, a traditional outbreak-linked market and other places.
Team members have met with researchers and managers of the institute, experts, vendors, residents and media representatives, China’s National Health Commission spokesman Mi told reporters on Thursday Feng.
It is likely that years and several investigations will take place in many parts of the world to confirm the origin of the virus due to thorough research, including animal sampling, genetic analysis, and epidemiological studies needed to determine animal deposition. of an outbreak. One possibility is that a wildlife thief passed the virus to traders carrying it to Wuhan, but this has not yet been proven.
The first COVID-19 groups were detected in Wuhan in late 2019, prompting the government to put the city of 11 million in a strict 76-day closure. Since then, China has reported more than 89,000 cases and 4,600 deaths, most of them in Wuhan, with new cases concentrated mainly in its northeastern and local closures and travel restrictions imposed to contain the shoots.
New local transmission cases fell to just 17 on Thursday as the Chinese government responds to government calls to skip family visits and stay during the Lunar New Year holidays later this month. .
China has also put forward a plan to vaccinate 50 million people against COVID-19 in the middle of this month. As of Wednesday, more than 31 million doses had been administered, Mi told reporters.