About The Visit Of The WHO Research Team To The First Hospital To Address COVID-19 In Wuhan

WHO research team in Wuhan (Source: Antara)

JAKARTA - A team of experts led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic visited a hospital in Wuhan City, China. The hospital is the first facility to treat patients in the early days of the pandemic.

"A very important first site visit. We are in a hospital treating some of the first known cases of COVID-19, meeting real doctors and staff who are doing this work, having an open discussion about the details of their work," wrote a member of the WHO team, Peter Daszak, on Twitter, quoted Friday, January 29.

After meeting with Chinese scientists the day before, the team left for the Hospital for Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine in Hubei Province. Zhang Jixian, director of the hospital's respiratory and critical care department, has been cited by state media as the first to report the coronavirus.

Zhang, at the end of 2019 treated an elderly couple, whose computed tomography (CT scan) showed a difference from normal pneumonia. The team started work on Thursday, January 28 after undergoing the mandated quarantine period by the local government.

They plan to visit laboratories, markets and hospitals for the remaining two weeks in Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first identified in late 2019. While exact travel plans have not been announced, the WHO said its team plans to visit a seafood market at the center of the initial outbreak as well as the Virology Institute. Wuhan.

One hypothesis, rejected by China, is that the outbreak was caused by a leak in a government laboratory. A WHO-led investigation into Wuhan has been delayed due to concerns over access and conflict between China and the United States, which accuses China of hiding the initial severity of the outbreak.

The United States has also criticized the terms of the visit, which Chinese experts also undertake in carrying out the first phase of research. The investigation team was previously set to arrive in Wuhan in early January.

The postponement of their visit to China drew rare public criticism of the head of the WHO, the world health body which former US president Donald Trump accused of "siding with China". China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday that the WHO and Chinese experts were working together to trace the origin of the virus, but stressed that the mission was not an investigation.

"It is part of global research, not an investigation," Zhao said at a regular press conference in Beijing.

China has pushed the idea that the virus was overseas before it was discovered in Wuhan. State media reported the presence of the virus on imported frozen food packaging, also citing scientific papers that said the virus had circulated in Europe in 2019.

China's Foreign Ministry also hinted that the sudden closure imposed on the US army laboratory at Fort Detrick in Maryland in July 2019 was linked to the pandemic.

"In the early stages in China, it was a burden especially for the citizens of Wuhan when everyone called it the Wuhan virus, which is a shame," said Yang You, a 30 year old Wuhan resident.

"If it can be traced to the source clearly, in my opinion, it could clear the name of China or Wuhan."