WHO advance team on way to China to set up probe into virus origin
A logo is pictured on the headquarters of the World Health Orgnaization (WHO) ahead of a meeting of the Emergency Committee on the novel coronavirus in Geneva, Switzerland, January 30, 2020 - REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
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.
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".
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