China and US clash at WHO over coronavirus investigation in Wuhan
- The US wants China to share all scientific studies into animal, human and environmental samples taken in the city where Covid-19 was first reported
- China’s representative to the UN health agency’s executive board calls for end to ‘political pressure’
The United States called on China on Monday to allow an expert team from the World Health Organization (WHO) to interview “care givers, former patients and lab workers” in the central city of Wuhan, and ensure its access to medical data and samples.
The team of WHO-led independent experts trying to determine the origins of the new coronavirus arrived on January 14 in Wuhan where they are holding teleconferences with Chinese counterparts during a two-week quarantine before starting work on the ground.
The United States, which has accused China of hiding the extent of its initial outbreak, has called for a “transparent” WHO-led investigation and criticised the terms of the visit, under which Chinese experts have done the first phase of research.
Garrett Grigsby of the US Department of Health and Human Services, said China should share all scientific studies into animal, human and environmental samples taken in Wuhan, where the Sars-CoV-2 virus is believed to have emerged in late 2019.
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WHO health experts arrive in Covid-19 epicentre Wuhan to investigate origins of coronavirus
Comparative analysis of such genetic data would help to “look for overlap and potential sources” of the outbreak that sparked the Covid-19 pandemic, he told the WHO’s Executive Board.
“We have a solemn duty to ensure that this critical investigation is credible and is conducted objectively and transparently,” said Grigsby, who also referred to virus variants found in Britain, South Africa and Brazil.
Sun Yang, director general of the health emergency response office of China’s National Health Commission, told the board: “The virus origin studies are of a scientific nature. It needs coordination, cooperation. We must stop any political pressure.”
China confirms Wuhan is first stop on WHO coronavirus origins mission
Australia’s delegation also called for the WHO team to have access to “relevant data, information and key locations”.
The WHO earlier said the role of the team was to “verify data” collected by Chinese scientists and to interview early patients.
Details of the kinds of information to be collected and examined were laid out in a “terms of reference” document drawn up after two WHO experts visited China in July.
The work list includes delving through medical records to find evidence of early cases that may have been missed, testing stored medical samples for traces of infection, and documenting the supply chains and animal species on sale at a Wuhan food market linked to a number of the earliest known cases.
