WHO chief 'disappointed' as team probing virus origins denied entry to China

An international team of scientists travelling on behalf of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to Wuhan in order to trace COVID-19 virus origin has been denied entry to China. The UN health body chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that he is "very disappointed" with the news. Two members of the team are already on their way to China and others had to cancel their trip at the last moment.  

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'Very disappointed' 

The arrangements to allow a WHO team to travel to China were reached after months of negotiations with Beijing, however, it seems that the secretive Communist State never really wanted a foreign probe on its soil to trace the virus origin. China has been accused of covering up the true origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan's seafood market, allegedly run illegally. After months of denial by Beijing, it was agreed that an international team will be allowed to travel to Wuhan to investigate the origin of the virus, almost a year after the virus first came into the light. 

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"This was as per arrangements jointly developed between WHO, the Chinese government, and countries for which the team was meant to travel through on their way to Wuhan. Today we learned that Chinese officials have not yet finalised the necessary permissions for the team’s arrival in China. I am very disappointed with this news given that two members had already begun their journeys and others were not able to travel at the last minute," Tedros Adhanom told reporters during a press briefing on Tuesday. 

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Earlier, it was reported that China has refused to disclose the exact date and other details of the visit, including the places where the investigators will be allowed to visit and people they will be allowed to meet. China has claimed that details of the visit, including dates, were still being finalised internally. WHO chief said that he has been in contact with senior Chinese officials, who have assured him speeding up of the internal procedure for the earliest possible deployment.   

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