WHO advance team on way to China to set up probe into coronavirus origin

The two WHO experts, specialists in animal science and epidemiology, will work with Chinese scientists to determine the scope and itinerary of the investigation.

An advance team from the World Health Organization (WHO) has left for China to organise an investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus which sparked the pandemic, a spokeswoman said on Friday.

A pedestrian in protective suit rides an escalator near an overpass with an electronic board showing stock information, following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the country, at Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China. (REUTERS)

The two WHO experts, specialists in animal science and epidemiology, will work with Chinese scientists to determine the scope and itinerary of the investigation, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a U.N. briefing. “They are gone, they are in the air now, they are the advance party to work out the scope,” she said.

The WHO will have no role in an independent panel, announced on Thursday, to review the global handling of pandemic, Harris said, adding: “From now on it is completely hands off”.