This archive report was first published on 11 July 2020.
On June 10, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) took a significant step in understanding the novel coronavirus by sending a two-man team to China to investigate its origins.
The team, comprising experts in animal health and epidemiology, will work with Chinese scientists to establish the scope and itinerary of the probe.
According to WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris, the approach will involve negotiations on matters including the constitution of a full investigation team and what skills are required.
Previous reports suggested that the virus originated in a seafood market in Chinese Wuhan city, but the United States had refuted such claims, asserting that the virus was made in a Chinese laboratory and has since faulted China for knowingly or otherwise releasing a bioweapon.
US President Donald Trump had referred to the virus as the 'Chinese virus', a statement that agitated China.
China has refuted claims by the US, and the two countries have plunged into a trade war.
Before the outbreak of the virus, the rift between the two giant countries had been distinguished, and the virus only widened it.
Harris also noted that for so long, many people have assumed that the virus originated in a bat, but WHO would like to determine if it went through another intermediary species.
