By Raphael Oni
The Chinese Government said that the World Health Organization team of experts will arrive this week to investigate the origins of the corona virus, after the country was criticized by the health body and other nations for a lack of transparency around tracking.
The group of international expert team from the World Health Organization will arrive in China on Thursday to conduct joint scientific research with Chinese scientists on the origin of the novel coronavirus. This was disclosed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian during the Regular Press Conference with media men on Monday in Beijing, China. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China supported scientists around the world to conduct a global study on the origins of the virus.
.
Zhao Lijian said “Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Chinese side has maintained close communication and cooperation with WHO on global origin-tracing in an open, transparent and responsible manner. In February and July last year, despite the arduous task of prevention and control, China invited WHO experts in twice. Chinese experts and WHO and international experts also held frequent interactions through video-conference and seminars, sharing the outcomes China has achieved and the global progress in origin-tracing in a candid and science-based manner. The two sides also jointly formulated the China part of a global plan for scientific cooperation on origin-tracing.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokes person told news men that China and WHO have reached a basic consensus on origin-tracing, which is a scientific issue that should be jointly studied by scientists all over the world. He emphasize that new development will deepened discovery on how to better handle the pandemic. In his words, “As new developments emerge, the world’s knowledge regarding the virus deepens and more early cases are found, it is highly likely that origin-tracing will involve many countries and localities, and WHO will need to pay similar visits to other countries and regions as the need arises. China will continue close cooperation with WHO and international experts and contribute our share to the global origin-tracing work.”
Speaking in the same vein, at a Press conference in China, the Vice Minister of the National Health Commission Zeng Yixin said the government was prioritizing those most at risk of catching the virus. He said China has attached high importance to tracing the origins of the novel coronavirus and supports cooperation between China and the WHO on the issue.
Zeng Yixin said China has had detailed discussion on the visit to Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, by WHO experts and agreement has been reached between the two sides. Preparations have been made for cooperation in scientific research during the visit in China. He is optimistic that the visit will improve cooperation, in his words, “China hopes the cooperation can contribute to finding the origin of the novel coronavirus and improve knowledge of the virus, which is very important for the prevention and control of outbreaks of new infectious diseases in the future”.
