By Haruna Gimba
As a team of WHO experts are visiting Chinese City of Wuhan to probe the origins of COVID-19, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said the world may never find “patient zero.”
The WHO’s Technical Lead on the disease, Maria Van Kerkhove who made the statement, said the world may never find “patient zero” even as the global health watchdog continues its probe in China and Wuhan.
WHO-led team investigating the origins of COVID-19 is scheduled to hold virtual meetings with its Chinese hosts in Wuhan as the team is currently under quarantine.
Two members of the WHO team also tested positive for coronavirus and were barred from entering China.
The pandemic first emerged in China’s Wuhan by the end of 2019.
As of January 15, 2021, the world has reported over 2 million deaths due to COVID-19. Now WHO says the first patient may never be traced ultimately.
Ever since the virus outbreak came to light in Wuhan in December 2019, it was speculated whether the coronavirus strain originated from Wuhan’s premier virology institute or from its nearby Huanan Seafood Market.
Now, China has honoured a virologist of the controversial Wuhan-based bio-lab, which was at the centre of COVID-19 storm at a time when the WHO team reached Wuhan to probe the origins of the coronavirus.
Shi Zhengli from the Wuhan Institute of Virology who has earned the name of ‘Bat Womanfor her passionate research into bats and viruses was honoured as an “advanced worker of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS),” the state-run Global Times reported.
