WHO says larger team to arrive in China later

The World Health Organization's emergencies chief says it is “unrealistic” to expect a larger team to arrive in China this month to investigate the animal origins of the coronavirus. Last week, two WHO staffers flew to Beijing as part of an advance team to plan more studies into how COVID-19 first emerged.

The World Health Organization's emergencies chief says it is "unrealistic" to expect a larger team to arrive in China this month to investigate the animal origins of the coronavirus. Last week, two WHO staffers flew to Beijing as part of an advance team to plan more studies into how COVID-19 first emerged. Experts believe the virus most likely moved to humans from animals. The investigation aims to prevent future outbreaks.

Dr. Michael Ryan says WHO was trying to put together a bigger team to visit China but doubted it would happen soon. WHO's two experts are quarantined in a Beijing hotel. The UN health agency says there are no plans for them to visit Wuhan, where the outbreak was first detected late last year.

Field investigations at the origin of an outbreak are essential to determining an epidemic's origins.