WHO experts will arrive in China on the 14th to investigate the origins of the virus

The World Health Organization (WHO) team of experts tasked with investigating the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus will arrive in China next Thursday, January 14, after both sides overcame access problems to the country from this mission that they encountered last week.

Through a brief statement published on its website, the National Health Commission of China indicates that WHO technicians will arrive on the 14th to the Asian country, and that they will "cooperate" with local scientists in these investigations.

The Commission does not specify the places where the members of this "priority" mission for the WHO will go. The mission is made up of scientists from various international organizations from the United States, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Australia, Vietnam, Germany and Qatar.

According to the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post, "the mission is expected to last six weeks, including quarantine" (to which the members of the research team will be subjected).

The objective is to find the possible animal origin of SARS-CoV-2 and its transmission channels to humans.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus today welcomed the fact that China has finally authorized the entry of its international expert mission to investigate the origin of the coronavirus, and expressed the wish that the collaboration with Beijing would continue.

"We look forward to working closely with our Chinese counterparts on this critical mission to identify the source of the virus and its route of transmission to humans," Tedros said on his Twitter account.

The director general reacted in this way to the announcement made by the National Health Commission of China, which today confirmed that the team of experts will arrive in the Asian country this Thursday, January 14th.

Last week, several experts from the mission had to return to their countries of origin after having started their trips to China, due to problems with entry permits that led Tedros himself to declare himself "very disappointed" with the attitude of the Chinese authorities.

The mission, whose preparation has taken months and has been surrounded by secrecy, is made up of experts linked to the WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health.

There are scientists from the United States, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Australia, Vietnam, Germany and Qatar.

Teams of experts from the WHO already visited China in February and July last year to investigate those origins of the coronavirus, although on both occasions hardly any details were disclosed.

Although the initial theory is that it spread through a fresh produce and animal market in Wuhan, in recent months the official Chinese press has promoted an alternative narrative that claims that the outbreak could be due to frozen food from other countries.

From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spokesman Zhao Lijian said today during the daily press conference that "it is likely that tracing the origin of the coronavirus involves several countries with greater knowledge of the virus. The WHO will need to carry out similar research in other countries and regions".

In that regard, a respiratory disease expert cited by the combative state-nationalist newspaper Global Times said the WHO team "will probably visit other countries where the coronavirus emerged before China," an idea that the official Chinese press is trying to spread.

The source said China was "the first country to detect it" and that's why Beijing is "taking over the task of helping the WHO carry out the investigations.

The arrival of the WHO team in China caused controversy last week after WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "very disappointed" by the obstacles Beijing was placing on the mission, although Chinese authorities denied they were placing any impediments.

Several members of the team had begun their trips to China in the first days of the year, but Tedros regretted that Beijing had not "finalized the necessary permits" for their access to the Asian country, which recorded the first worldwide outbreak of the covid in the east-central city of Wuhan during the last days of December 2019.

Scientists who were unable to access China were forced to return to their home countries until the situation was resolved.

However, from the Chinese Foreign Ministry they described the situation as a "misunderstanding" when they assured last week that "there has never been any problem in the cooperation" with the WHO and that the organization knew "perfectly" that it was not only "a problem of visas", adding that both parties were still preparing the visit and negotiating its dates.

This unforeseen event added new doubts to those already existing about the transparency of the Chinese authorities with respect to the virus, as well as about the delay of the mission, given that more than a year has passed since its emergency in Wuhan.

Last Saturday, the deputy director of the National Health Commission, Zeng Yixin, showed his support for the mission, although he noted that the timing was still to be coordinated.

Although WHO experts already visited China for this purpose in February and July last year - without going into too much detail - the organization of this mission has been delayed for months and has been surrounded by secrecy, both from that agency and from the Chinese authorities.