WHO Will Immediately Send A Team To China Hoping To Handle COVID-19 More Precisely

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus with UN Secretary General Antonio Gueterres (Instagram / @ drTedros)

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) plans to send a team to China to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. These investigations will later be used as provisions to combat the spread of COVID-19 more precisely and better.

"Knowing the source of the virus is very, very important. We can fight the virus better when we know everything about the virus, including how it started," WHO Director General (Dirjen) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference.

"We will send a team next week to China to prepare for that. And we hope that will lead to understanding how the virus started," he added.

Launching The Guardian, Tuesday, June 30, Tedros did not explain the composition of the team or what its specific mission was. Scientists believe the virus jumped from animals to humans, possibly at a market in Wuhan that sold exotic animals for consumption.

The WHO director-general also warned that the pandemic was "accelerating" and was far from over. Tedros also expressed concern that the worst outbreak was still to come unless all countries in the world were able to come together.

As cases continue to rise in the US, a number of states, such as Arizona, Texas, Florida and California, are imposing population restrictions and are reluctant to make reopening steps. Meanwhile, the people of Oregon and Kansas are asked to wear masks in public.

Meanwhile, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo asked President Donald Trump to issue an order mandating the use of masks in public.

The US alone accounts for more than a quarter of cases of the COVID-19 virus in the world. Nearly 2.6 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 126,131 deaths. The global death toll stands at 504,927, while the overall cases are close to 10.3 million.

The casualties from this disease are also getting worse in other countries. In the UK, which has the third-highest number of deaths in the world, the government is imposing local lockdown measures against cities that have high rates of COVID-19 infection.

Some shops and schools will be closed again. This comes as Britain looks forward to lifting restrictions at the end of this week.

In New Zealand, two weeks after rejoicing to have a zero number of COVID-19 cases, two new cases were again imported. Prime Minister (PM) Jacinda Ardern decided to again close the country's borders.