Shkoi Kurdistan-
WHO has sent a team of experts to Wuhan, the ground zero of the pandemic, to probe the origins of the coronavirus. The visit comes as China reports its first death in eight months.
A team of World Health Organization experts arrived in the Chinese city of Wuhan on Thursday to start a highly politicized investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, state media CGTN reported.
The 10-member team was approved by President Xi Jinping’s government after months of diplomatic wrangling that prompted an unusual public complaint by the WHO Director-General.
The researchers will be in quarantine for two weeks in Wuhan and undergo a throat swab test, and an antibody test for COVID-19 before starting their work.
The novel coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease, was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019.
It has since spread to almost every country on earth, killing nearly 2 million people and infecting tens of millions while devastating the global economy.
Scientists suspect the virus jumped to humans from bats or other animals, most likely in China’s southwest.
The Chinese government had been under international pressure over its handling of the initial outbreak. It has responded by saying the virus arrived in China from abroad, a claim rejected by scientists.
The WHO delegation’s visit came on the same day that Chinese authorities reported the first fatality from COVID-19 in eight months. The death was reported in Hebei province where the government has placed several cities under lockdown.
China is currently seeing a surge in coronavirus cases in its frozen northeast.
Europe
Germany’s economy is expected to have contracted at a dramatic pace last year after the tough restrictions were imposed to combat a surge in the coronavirus cases unleashed an economic crisis.
The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) will announce the annual numbers on Thursday. Analysts forecast that Europe’s biggest economy shrunk by 5.1% last year, after growing by 0.6% in 2019.
Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer offered up to 10,000 soldiers to carry out COVID-19 tests in care homes.
“The Bundeswehr (army) is ready to assist at short notice with up to 10,000 men and women in old people’s homes and nursing homes if we are called upon,” a spokesman for Kramp-Karrenbauer told AFP news agency.
The soldiers would receive training from manufacturers to carry out rapid tests in order to protect those most at risk and ease pressure on care home staff.
