WHO led team in China to begin virtual meetings amid quarantine: Virologist

A World Health Organization (WHO)-led team investigating the origin of the coronavirus cases will commence the virtual meetings with the Chinese hosts including Australian virologist Dominic Dwyer in Wuhan. The meeting was postponed earlier after two officials took coronavirus antibody tests in Singapore and tested positive. "Team now undergoing the mandatory 14 days quarantine and being treated very well by our hosts. Work begins today, day 1, in a teleconference with China team," tweeted team member Peter Daszak, a zoologist. 

According to sources of the Australian Associated Press, the WHO team arrives in China amid the alert over a resurgence of coronavirus cases in its northeast. The Chinese experts collaborated with the teams to complete the first phase of research as countries like the United States called for transparency around the initial outbreak of the virus. Australian virologist Dwyer told AAP, "There's always politics with this sort of scenario but one of the things that COVID-19 has shown us is if you have good science, you then inform the politics.” He added, “You want to fill the scientific vacuum with the answers so that people can make more informed and, therefore, presumably more sensible decisions.”

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15 members had all tested negative

According to WHO, the two absent team members who had undergone the antibodies test at transit in Singapore had deferred the virtual meetings. Meanwhile, at least 15 members had all tested negative as they left the home countries. In a statement to AAP, Dwyer said that the team of scientists will visit the research institutes, hospitals, and the market where the first human cases of the disease were first detected at the start of the virus outbreak. "Getting an understanding of how they (markets) work physically by seeing them is helpful because one's trying to work out how viruses might have come into the market from outside and spread within the market, or parts of the market, and then spread to the community,” Dwyer said. Furthermore, he informed, that the teams will not mix while in quarantine. "It's in the room for two weeks," Dwyer said about the online conferences, adding that “the rooms are a good size and they've given everyone exercise equipment and meals are delivered.” 

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(Image Credit: AP)