09:55
The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for its support tracing the origin of COVID-19 during a virtual news conference on Friday.
China has closely cooperated with the WHO since the outbreak of COVID-19 and invited WHO experts twice last year to help trace of origins of the novel coronavirus, in February and July.
Chinese and WHO experts began preparing for this trip last October. Since then, experts from the two sides have held four video meetings.
Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, said that there is no guarantee answers will be found, as has been the case in the investigations of some other emerging diseases.
"It's a difficult task to fully establish the origins," he said. "Sometimes, it can take two to three or four attempts to do that in different settings."
"Let this mission and let other missions be about the science, not about the politics. We are looking for the answers here that may save us in the future, not culprits and not people to blame,” Ryan added.
Ryan said that the WHO expert team would not be able to do the research without support from China. The expert team was well received by the Chinese government, Chinese people and the municipality of Wuhan in Hubei Province, Ryan said. He also expressed his hopes that everything goes well for the team.
(Video source: CGTN)
