International request to conduct field investigations in China on the source of the 2019 coronavirus disease, WHO officials confirmed today that the names of experts for the international delegation must first be provided to China.
As the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board convenes a special session on the 2019 coronavirus disease response for two consecutive days starting today, WHO Executive Director of the Public Health Emergency Programme Michael Ryan said during the epidemiological analysis of the outbreak that WHO will form an international expert mission to China to investigate the origin of the virus and has submitted the list of experts to the Chinese authorities for consideration, the Central News Agency reported today.
The COVID-19 outbreak was first reported in Wuhan, China, and an on-the-ground investigation of the origin of the outbreak is considered an essential step in tracing the origin of the epidemic. After controversy over the failure of two WHO advance team members to actually travel to Wuhan, WHO has now confirmed that the list of experts will require China’s prior nod. According to WHO, the international panel of experts will attempt to decipher how the virus crossed species boundaries from animals to humans, and then to COVID-19.
In addition, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus presented a midterm report on the response today, according to the report. He opened by stating that when the Executive Committee met in February of this year, there were only 151 cases outside of China; however, it is incredible that there are now approximately 35 million cases and 1 million deaths worldwide, and that the actual number is certainly higher.
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