This month, China is to host a mission from the World Health Organization (WHO). Its objective is to conduct an investigation aimed at determining the origin of the coronavirus in connection with the current Covid-19 pandemic. At first, the Chinese authorities seemed to have slowed down the arrival of this mission, but say they are ready to cooperate.
“Today we learned that Chinese officials have not yet finalized the necessary clearances for the team's arrival in China. I am very disappointed with this news, given that two members had already started their journey and others were unable to travel at the last minute ” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, comments relayed by France 24 on January 6, 2021.
Regarding what is obviously a visa issue (among others), the head of health emergencies at the WHO, Michael Ryan was more Manichean. According to him, it is only a logistical and bureaucratic problem that can be solved. However, among the first members of the mission, two scientists turned back and another patient still in another country.
Recall that the WHO has handpicked ten or so renowned scientists for this mission in China. The goal will be to investigate in order to trace the origins of the virus and establish the reasons for its transmission to humans.
It must be said that while China has always claimed to be very active in managing the epidemic on its territory, it has just given the impression of oppose the arrival of this mission of the WHO. Indeed, the government wishes to disclaim all responsibility for this pandemic which has caused more than 1.9 million deaths worldwide. In addition, strong suspicions on this subject have quite often made the headlines in recent months. Has China tried to buy time? Possibly.
Some think the government wants to wait until January 20, date on which United States President Donald Trump is due to leave the White House. The interest for China is not to let the world think that it is giving up its demands. Moreover, recently elected President Joe Bidden is known to be more pro-China.
Anyway, Fabian Leendertz from the Robert Koch Institute (Germany) who was part of the mission explained that it was in no way case of pointing the finger at a country or an authority and thus designate responsible persons. According to the researcher, it is more a question of understanding what really happened in order to prevent it from happening again in the future.
On January 9, 2021, RFI announced that China wanted to " actively support the WHO expert team" . It is no longer a question of hanging around and discussing questions of administrative procedures. China's National Health Commission also said has assembled a team integrating in particular virologists, epidemiologists and doctors in order to welcome international experts.
Upon arrival, scientists will be required to complete a 14-day quarantine in order to avoid any risk. Then, they will have between three and four weeks to carry out their investigations. The team is expected to travel to Wuhan fairly quickly, a year after its 11 million people were first quarantined.
