Disappointed with China over delayed access to virus investigation team: WHO chief Tedros

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday that he was “disappointed” with China as it hadn't finalised permissions for the arrival of the team which is set to investigate the origin of the coronavirus.

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“Today, we learned that Chinese officials have not yet finalized the necessary permissions for the team’s arrival in China,” Tedros said, adding," I’m very disappointed with this news, given that two members had already begun their journeys and others were not able to travel at the last minute but had been in contact with senior Chinese officials."

WHO officials are already on the way to China to investigate the virus origin.

“We are eager to get the mission underway as soon as possible,” Tedros asserted while adding that China had assured speeding up of internal procedure.

China had earlier said it would give the WHO's expert team full access to investigate the virus origin. China had informed the first case of the virus to the WHO on December 31, 2019, although some experts feel the virus had taken hold much earlier.

The virus which spread to every corner of the globe in 2020 has led to over 1.8 million fatalities worldwide and over 85 million cases.