Sharjah24 – Reuters: Wuhan citizens on Saturday (January 2) welcomed the World Health Organization's (WHO) upcoming visit to investigate the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic which has infected more than 84 million people around the world.
An international team of investigators is expected to travel to China in January, the WHO has said, more than a year after the first identified cluster of COVID-19 infections was linked to the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan. A report earlier, citing a member and diplomats, that a team of 12-15 international experts will visit Wuhan to examine evidence, including human and animal samples collected by Chinese researchers, and to build on their initial studies. Beijing has strongly opposed calls for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, but said it has been open to a WHO-led investigation.
But Wuhan residents welcomed the visit, saying that they hoped the visit would help clarify the origins of the deadly disease.
China still tightly restricts access to locations such as the Huanan market, which stands empty and locked even though normal life has largely resumed in Wuhan and throughout China. Beijing has also been pushing a narrative that the virus existed abroad before it was found in Wuhan, and unlike other countries cites frozen food packaging as a risk of spreading COVID-19.
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