Treyfish
Moderator
Coronavirus: WHO 'not invited' to join China's COVID-19 investigations
A WHO team is convinced the outbreak's origins are in Wuhan and that it is a naturally occurring, not a manufactured, virus.
Tom Cheshire
Asia correspondent @chesh
Thursday 30 April 2020 17:30, UK
WHO 'not invited' to join China investigation
"WHO is making requests of the health commission and of the authorities," he said. "The origins of virus are very important, the animal-human interface is extremely important and needs to be studied.
"The priority is we need to know as much as possible to prevent the reoccurrence."
Asked by Sky News whether there was a good reason not to include the WHO, Dr Galea replied: "From our point of view, no."
The Australian government has said that an independent public enquiry should be held into the origins of COVID-19, a measure EU countries are reportedly considering publicly endorsing.
China has reacted angrily, saying that the investigation into the virus should be a matter for scientists.
....From 3 January to 16 January, Wuhan officials reported no new coronavirus cases beyond the 41 already published.
"Is it likely that there were only 41 cases for that period of time? I would think not," Dr Galea told Sky News......
:magnify:...The WHO has been criticised for a tweet it posted on 14 January, saying "Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission".
The same day, in Geneva, a WHO official said there had been "limited" human-to-human transmission....
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavir...tions-11981193
A WHO team is convinced the outbreak's origins are in Wuhan and that it is a naturally occurring, not a manufactured, virus.
Tom Cheshire
Asia correspondent @chesh
Thursday 30 April 2020 17:30, UK
WHO 'not invited' to join China investigation
- China has refused repeated requests by the World Health Organisation to take part in investigations into the origins of COVID-19, the WHO representative in China has told Sky News.
"WHO is making requests of the health commission and of the authorities," he said. "The origins of virus are very important, the animal-human interface is extremely important and needs to be studied.
"The priority is we need to know as much as possible to prevent the reoccurrence."
Asked by Sky News whether there was a good reason not to include the WHO, Dr Galea replied: "From our point of view, no."
The Australian government has said that an independent public enquiry should be held into the origins of COVID-19, a measure EU countries are reportedly considering publicly endorsing.
China has reacted angrily, saying that the investigation into the virus should be a matter for scientists.
....From 3 January to 16 January, Wuhan officials reported no new coronavirus cases beyond the 41 already published.
"Is it likely that there were only 41 cases for that period of time? I would think not," Dr Galea told Sky News......
:magnify:...The WHO has been criticised for a tweet it posted on 14 January, saying "Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission".
The same day, in Geneva, a WHO official said there had been "limited" human-to-human transmission....
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavir...tions-11981193