After months of trying to gain entry into China for a COVID-19 investigation, the World Health Organization (WHO) has finally sent a team of investigators to the country, with the team landing in the country this Thursday, January 14, 2021.
WHO Members Tested Positive for IgM Antibodies
According to TIME, the team has arrived in Central Wuhan, the epicenter of the disease where the novel coronavirus was initially discovered and scattered.
The "global team of researchers" included ten members from various nations, including the United States, Britain, Australia, Japan, Germany, Russia, Vietnam, Qatar, and the Netherlands, who will all complete a two-week quarantine like everyone else.
Upon landing, the members quickly underwent both throat swabs as well as serum antibody tests.
Nevertheless, two members of the WHO investigation team were left in Singapore after they were blocked from entering the country due to testing positive in the coronavirus antibody test.
In a report by CNN, the organization confirmed the news via their Twitter account, and as of now, is re-testing the remaining two members who were able to acquire negative results for COVID-19 multiples times.
Since November 2020, China mandated anyone entering the country must show a negative IgM antibody test and a PCR test.
IgM antibody is often the first sign of coronavirus infection.
Meanwhile, all the members who have landed in China today can start their investigation as soon as their quarantine period is over.
WHO Lands in China After Months of Rebuffs
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in a press conference this Thursday that the country "will strictly follow the relevant epidemic prevention regulations and requirements, and provide corresponding support and facilities for WHO experts who come to China to carry out international cooperation on tracing the origin of the virus."
When asked about the remaining members left in Singapore, Zhao did not comment, and instead directed the reporters to "relevant authorities."
The health organization has repeatedly asked China for permission to send scientists to the city of Wuhan to start their investigation and further understand how COVID-19 came to be, but they were reportedly repeatedly rebuffed.
However, the WHO team was supposed to enter the country earlier this month but were blocked from entering by the country's authorities.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has then expressed his disappointment over the news, saying that the investigation is a top priority for the United Nations' agency and that they are "eager" to start the mission at the earliest time possible.
COVID-19 Investigation to Begin
Ideally, WHO scientists were supposed to land on-site 24 hours after the outbreak to collect samples as well as interview both patients and clinicians.
But what happened when the outbreak happened was far from that as the Chinese authorities immediately sanitized the Huanan Seafood Market where the first victims were allegedly from.
As a year had passed, the team will be focusing on gathering data from clinicians and medical staff about treating patients, examining data during the timeline of admissions, and analyzing various medical records.
For now, the agency and the rest of the world will have to wait until the investigation starts.
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Written by: Nhx Tingson
