China announced Monday that a team of foreign experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) would be visiting the country to probe the origins of the novel coronavirus next Thursday.
A 10-member team of international experts is due in Wuhan city, where the virus was first reported in December 2019. It has since spread across the globe, infecting over 90 million people and costing more than 1.9 million lives.
China permits WHO team to arrive in country for probe into coronavirus origins https://t.co/qHt9M6nimS
— 24X7 News Guru (@24x7newsguru) January 11, 2021
China's National Health Commission said the WHO experts would arrive on Thursday and "cooperate with Chinese experts to investigate the origin of COVID-19," the Chinese Global Times daily reported.
Last week, Beijing had said it was still negotiating with the WHO about the visit.
"There has never been any problem in cooperation between China and the WHO. It's not just a visa issue, the two sides are in close communication on specific dates and arrangements for the team's China visit," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a press conference on Wednesday.
Pause to reflect how outrageous this is.
— Matt Ridley (@mattwridley) January 6, 2021
A virus has killed nearly 2 m people and the country where it started won't even allow in an investigation team whose members and terms of reference it approved.
Where's the outrage from western politicians?https://t.co/Ft5oL8Hfs4
The statement came a day after WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed his dismay over China not allowing members of the team to enter the country for the on-site probe.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
