Yellow barriers blocked the entrance to the hotel, keeping the media at a distance. Before the researchers boarded their bus, workers wearing protective outfits and face shields could be seen loading their luggage, including two musical instruments and a dumbbell.
Hotel staff waved goodbye to the researchers, who were wearing face masks. The bus driver wore a full-body white protective suit. They drove about 30 minutes to a lakeside Hilton resort-like hotel.
A worker in protective gear carries a dumbbell belonging to the WHO team. Credit:AP
Former WHO official Keiji Fukuda, who is not part of the team in Wuhan, has cautioned against expecting any breakthroughs, saying it may take years before any firm conclusions can be made about the virus’ origin.
“This is now well over a year past when it all started,” he said earlier this month. “So much of the physical evidence is going to be gone. The memories of people are imprecise and probably the physical layouts of many places are going to be different than they were.”
Among the places they might visit are the Huanan Seafood Market, which was linked to many of the first cases, as well as research institutes and hospitals that treated patients at the height of the outbreak.
It hasn’t been disclosed whether they will leave Wuhan. One possible source of the virus is bats in caves in rural Yunnan province, about 1600 kilometres south-west of Wuhan.
AP
Read more: WHO team in Wuhan departs quarantine for COVID-19 origins study
