A WHO team that was supposed to visit China to study the origins of the coronavirus outbreak was turned back by Beijing, despite the fact their arrival was not unexpected.
China has already been criticized over its handling of COVID’s early days. Epidemiologists say it is imperative to learn about the virus’s origins, and the delay is preventing breakthroughs. The move by Beijing also prompted rare public criticism from the WHO, which has been accused by President Trump of providing cover for China.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, said to reporters that China told the scientists they did not have the needed paperwork to gain entry into the country.
“I am very disappointed with this news,” he said at a news conference in Geneva. “I have been in contact with senior Chinese officials and I have once again made clear that the mission is a priority for WHO and the international team.”
China announced early Monday that the WHO team will be allowed in later this week.
Huang Yanzhong, a senior fellow for global health at the Council of Foreign Relations based in New York, called China’s move a “bad omen.” He said, “It’s not like the [team’s] arrival was unexpected.”
The CDC said the coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan in December 2019. The pathogen is believed to have originated in bats and somehow made a jump to human hosts. The Washington Post reported that the WHO has been negotiating with China for about a year to allow a team inside the country.
Peter Ben Embarek, a food safety expert leading the mission, told the paper “everything is on the table,” but the scenario that would be “least surprising” is that the virus somehow jumped from bat to another animal and then to humans.
One of the reasons scientists are focused on the wet market is because 70 percent of the first 41 confirmed cases were either customers or workers there. Some of the animals sold included live wolf puppies, bamboo rats, and foxes.
Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman from the Chinese foreign ministry, said tracing the source of the virus is a complicated issue, and “to ensure the international team’s work progresses smoothly, they must go through the necessary procedures.”
TRENDPOST: In March of last year, much of the world called it the “Wuhan Virus,” naming it for where it first broke out. Then it became the “Chinese Virus.” Now, nearly a year later, those on one side of a political divide call it the CCP virus, i.e, the “Chinese Communist Party” virus.
TREND FORECAST: Beyond the coronavirus, tensions between Western nations and China will continue to escalate throughout the coming decades as China gains economic dominance over America and much of the western world.
“China 2021” is one of our Top Trends for 2021. As Gerald Celente has forecast, the business of China is business; the business of America is war. The 20th century was the American Century, the 21st century will be the Chinese century.
