'Robust' probe call at start of Wuhan mission

A team of experts from the World Health Organization left quarantine in Wuhan yesterday to begin a heavily scrutinized probe into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, after Washington urged a "robust and clear" investigation.

The group started a two-week quarantine on arrival on January 14 in the Chinese city where the first known cluster of virus cases emerged in late 2019.

Wearing masks, they peered at the ranks of waiting media from the window of a bus which whisked them from the quarantine to another hotel - although it was not immediately clear when and where their investigation will start.

"So proud to graduate from our 14 days. No one went stir crazy and we've been very productive," tweeted team member Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, a global NGO focused on infectious disease prevention.

The virus is believed to have come from bats and to have initially spread from a wet market in Wuhan where wild animals were sold as food.

The WHO insists the visit will be tightly tethered to the science of how the virus - which has killed more than two million people - jumped from animals to humans.

But in a sign of the political baggage attached to their mission, US President Joe Biden's new administration weighed in before the experts had even finished quarantine.

Speaking to reporters, new White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said it was "imperative we get to the bottom" of how the virus appeared and spread worldwide.

Psaki voiced concern over "misinformation" from "some sources in China" and urged a "robust and clear" probe.

Beijing snapped back, warning the United States to "respect facts and science, respect the hard work" of the WHO experts.

They must be allowed to work "free from political interference," Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian said.

But in a mission dogged by delays and obfuscation from their Chinese hosts, it was not clear what the expert team will be allowed to see in Wuhan - or what useful evidence remains a year after the outbreak in a country which has vigorously controlled the narrative of how the pandemic began.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE