"WHO COVID Origin Investigation Team Likely to Recommend Tracing China's First Confirmed Case"

US CNN Broadcast "Recommendation to Investigate Wildlife Supply Chains in Fish Markets"

On the 3rd of this month (local time), when the World Health Organization (WHO) investigation team visited Wuhan, Hebei Province, China, to uncover the origin of COVID-19, a security guard was seen restraining the press near the Wuhan Virus Research Institute.

The World Health Organization (WHO)-led COVID-19 origin investigation team is expected to recommend a follow-up investigation related to China's first confirmed case, CNN reported on the 21st (local time).

The team pointed out that no follow-up investigation has been conducted regarding the man in his 40s, who was reported as the first confirmed COVID-19 case on December 8, 2019, and emphasized the need for extensive additional investigation.

This office worker did not travel abroad or participate in sports activities involving large gatherings, but his parents visited other markets in Wuhan that sold wild animals, similar to the Huanan Seafood Market.

Peter Daszak, a U.S. expert participating in the investigation team, speculated that it is possible that animals or products infected with COVID-19 were sold at those markets.

He noted that Chinese scientists reported the first confirmed case’s parents tested negative, but emphasized, "It is worth conducting that (follow-up investigation) to understand how COVID-19 spread in Wuhan."

In response, Morin Miller, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, analyzed, "The fact that the first confirmed case was infected with COVID-19 without direct contact with wild animal markets or overseas travel means that there was already community transmission in December 2019."

She added, "It is hard to believe that this research has not been conducted," and pointed out, "In the long and short term, hiding the fact that this virus started in China and spread to other countries is not beneficial to China."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.