A WHO expert group investigating the source of the new coronavirus in Wuhan visited the South China Seafood Market on Sunday, where the virus was first detected.
The group arrived at the South China market Sunday afternoon amid heavy security and numerous barricades outside the blue fence that surrounds the market.
The WHO experts did not answer questions posed to them by reporters gathered at the entrance as they rode into the market. The barricades came down as soon as the convoy they were in entered the market.
Public access to the market has been severely restricted since it was closed last year. Now, the South China Seafood Market is guarded around the clock. Before the closure, it was a bustling market with hundreds of stalls divided into meat, seafood and vegetable sections.
Some Chinese diplomats and state-run media have said they do not believe the market is where the virus originated, lending support to the notion that it may have originated in other countries.
The market was closed overnight on December 31, 2019, when four cases of mysterious pneumonia were found to be linked to the market. By the end of January, Wuhan had entered a 76-day closure period.
Experts say the South China market still has a role in tracing the origin of the new coronavirus because the first cases were found here.
The WHO expert team is expected to visit laboratories, markets and hospitals in Wuhan after the two-week quarantine in the city ends Thursday.
The exact itinerary has not been announced, but WHO said the team plans to visit the South China market and the Wuhan Institute of Virus Research.
The WHO’s Wuhan investigation has been repeatedly delayed. The United States has accused China of covering up the severity of the outbreak in its early stages and has criticized the terms of the visit. Under the terms of the visit, an advance investigation by Chinese experts was conducted and the first phase of the study was carried out.
The expert team was scheduled to arrive in Wuhan in early January, and China’s postponement of its visit drew rare public criticism from the head of the WHO. Former President Donald Trump has criticized the WHO chief for being “China-centric.
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