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WHO experts visit Chinese virus epicenter
BEIJING, Feb 24, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Experts from the World Health
Organization have visited the locked-down central Chinese city at the
epicentre of the deadly global coronavirus outbreak, Chinese authorities said
Monday.
The trip over the weekend is the first reported visit to Wuhan by the WHO
since the virus emerged from the city of 11 million people late last year.
The virus, which is suspected to have crossed from animals to humans at a
market in Wuhan, has killed more than 2,500 people across China and spread
around the world.
The international group of experts led by the WHO inspected two hospitals
during their visit, including a makeshift one at a sports centre, the
National Health Commission said on Monday.
They also met with top officials at the centre for disease control for
Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital.
China has quarantined Wuhan and other cities in Hubei, blocking tens of
millions of residents from travelling, since late January, to try and contain
the virus.
Most of the deaths have been in Wuhan.
The WHO team arrived in China more than a week ago to observe research and
testing efforts, so they could then help with recommendations for fighting
the epidemic, the National Health Council said previously.
The WHO has praised Beijing for its handling of the epidemic.
But China has been criticised at home for silencing early warnings from a
whistleblower doctor who later died from the virus.
The United States has also called for more transparency.
China’s numbers of daily new infections have been on a downward trend, but
health authorities have sowed confusion about the data by repeatedly changing
counting methods.
There have been more than 77,000 confirmed infections in China.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0933 hrs