RED MIST
China BANS team of WHO experts from entering country during Covid cover-up probe
A WORLD Health Organisation team investigating the origins of Covid-19 have been denied entry into China.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Beijing had still not given permission for its experts to arrive.
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Speaking at a news conference in Geneva Dr Ghebreyesus said: "Today, we learned that Chinese officials have not yet finalised the necessary permissions for the team’s arrival in China.
"I’m very disappointed with this news, given that two members had already begun their journeys and others were not able to travel at the last minute, but had been in contact with senior Chinese officials."
Dr Tedros told reporters that he had been in contact with Chinese officials to stress that the "mission is a priority for WHO and the international team" and that he is "eager to get the mission underway as soon as possible".
However, Beijing has challenged this, saying the details of the visit were still being arranged.
Dr Tedros said he "made it clear" that the investigation was a priority for the UN health agency and that he was "assured that China is speeding up the internal procedures for the earliest possible deployment".
'LONG-AWAITED INVESTIGATION'
The long-awaited investigation was agreed by Beijing after months of negotiation with the WHO.
Ten scientific experts on the international WHO team are expected to visit the city of Wuhan which is suspected to be the place where coronavirus emerged over a year ago.
The team will probe the animal origin of the pandemic and how the virus crossed over to humans.
The WHO's emergencies chief, Dr Michael Ryan, said the deployment was expected to start on Tuesday but that he needed approvals that had not yet been granted which included visa clearances.
Dr Ryan said that Dr Tedros had taken immediate action and had spoken with a number of senior Chinese officials.
"We hope that this is just a logistical and bureaucratic issue that can be resolved very quickly," Dr Ryan added.
Coronavirus was first detected in the city of Wuhan in the central Hubei province in late 2019.
It was initially believed that the virus originated in a wet market that sold exotic animals for meat.
It has been suggested that this is where the virus crossed over to humans.
However, Wuhan seems to have kicked the deadly virus a year on.
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