A team of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) visited the hospital in the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan, where the first coronavirus patients were treated over a year ago. The visit was an „important opportunity“ to „speak directly to the doctors who were on site at this critical time in the fight against Covid,“ wrote WHO team member Peter Daszak today on Twitter.
The mission is highly explosive because it could focus on possible omissions by the Chinese authorities in the early stages of the pandemic. This is probably one of the reasons why not only hospitals and research institutions are on the program for the research trip to the origins of the pandemic.
Little information gets out
Today the researchers visited a propaganda exhibition celebrating China’s recovery from the health crisis. The exhibition recognizes the emergency measures taken by the Wuhan health authorities in the chaotic early phase of the Covid-19 outbreak – as well as the quick response of the communist leadership.
The Chinese authorities have not communicated the exact course of the WHO research work in Wuhan. The Chinese media have kept a low profile so far, and information about the itinerary only leaked through tweets from WHO experts. According to the WHO, the international team of experts is also planning visits to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Huanan market. This still closed market is considered the origin of the pandemic.
