Thought of the Day - January 8 - Nothing to See Here
- Cliff Fraser
- Jan 8, 2021
- 1 min read
Updated: Jul 30, 2021
It has been almost two months since I provided an update on the search for the origin of SARS-CoV-2 virus ( Thought of the Day - November 20 - One Year Anniversary ). I was looking forward to this week as more than a year after the outbreak the ten members of the international team assembled by WHO are on their way to China to finally start field work to find the origin of the virus. At this point all we know is that the initial hypothesis, that the virus leaped into humans from animals at the Wuhan market, has proven not to be the case.
But wait, although this visit has been in discussion for over six months (when a team went to China to start planning the plan), it seems that "their visas had not been approved by the Chinese authorities". It is unclear what will happen next - whether this is a minor delay or a major setback.
Also this week an interesting, albeit long-winded, article was published in the New York magazine (not to be confused with the New Yorker): nymag.com/intelligencer/article/coronavirus-lab-escape-theory Coincidence? Will let you decide.
I guess we will just have to wait and see if this mission even happens.
Cheers
Cliff
Quick update - good news. After delays it looks like the WHO experts will be arriving in China this Thursday. However a statement was also made by the Chinese Foreign Ministry that while the country was open to a visit by WHO experts, but that it was still working on "necessary procedures and relevant concrete plans" - sounds it will be a while before ay field work happens.