China agrees to send WHO experts to Beijing to trace origin of COVID-19

Photo: Twitter/@MFA_China

Beijing: China on Wednesday (July 8, 2020) agreed to send the World Health Organization's (WHO) team of experts to Beijing to trace the origin of COVID-19.

"After consultation, the Chinese government has agreed that WHO will send a team of experts to Beijing to trace the origin of COVID-19," said Zhao Lijian, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

After consultation, the Chinese government has agreed that WHO will send a team of experts to Beijing to trace the origin of #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/mQII3zgbIT — Spokesperson发言人办公室 (@MFA_China) July 8, 2020

Earlier on July 7, Zhao had stated, "Coordinated by the China-Japan-ROK Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat and UNESCAP, a trilateral meeting of COVID-19 experts was held on July 2."

He said that the experts from the 3 countries and WHO shared information and exchanged views on the latest situation and prevention and control measures.

The unprecedented outbreak of the coronavirus was first reported on December 31, 2019, by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, China, as "a cluster of cases of pneumonia" in Wuhan, Hubei Province (China). 

As of 5 PM on July 8, there are 1,18,52,102 confirmed coronavirus infections across the world, while 5,44,726 people have succumbed to COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University.

To know more about the history of coronavirus, click here.