WHO medical team leaves quarantine to begin Wuhan Covid investigation

A team of experts from the World Health Organisation has left quarantine in Wuhan to begin a probe into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. The US authorities in Washington have urged a "robust and clear" investigation.

The group of medical and scientific experts started a two-week quarantine on arrival on 14 January in the central Chinese city where the first known cluster of virus cases emerged in late 2019.

On Thursday morning, they left the hotel in which they have spent the past two weeks, although it was not immediately clear when or where their investigation will start.

The virus is believed to have come from bats and to have initially spread from a wet market in Wuhan where wild animals are sold as food.

The WHO says the visit will focus on explaining how the virus -- which has killed more than two million people and devastated the global economy -- jumped from animals to humans.

Political pressure from US President Biden

US President Joe Biden's new administration weighed in before the experts had even left their hotel.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, new White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said it was "imperative we get to the bottom" of how the virus appeared and spread worldwide.

Psaki voiced concern over "misinformation" from "some sources in China" and urged a "robust and clear" probe.

It is not yet clear what the expert team will be allowed to see in Wuhan -- or what useful evidence remains almost twelve months after the outbreak in a country which has vigorously controlled the narrative of how the pandemic began.

The early days of the outbreak remain among the most sensitive topics in China today, with the Communist leadership seeking to stamp out any discussion that shows its management of the epidemic in a poor light.

On Thursday, Beijing warned the United States against "politicising" the probe.

Relatives of Wuhan dead ask to meet WHO

Relatives of Wuhan's coronavirus dead have called for a meeting with the team from the UN health agency, saying they have been facing new levels of official obstruction since the WHO team arrived.

They accuse the Chinese government of taking down a WeChat group used by scores of next-of-kin to discuss the outbreak.

"This shows that Chinese authorities are very nervous. They are afraid that these families will get in touch with the WHO experts," said Zhang Hai whose father died early in the pandemic of suspected Covid-19.

Relatives accuse the Wuhan city and Hubei provincial governments of allowing Covid-19 to get out of control by trying to conceal the outbreak when it first emerged in the city in December 2019, then failing to alert the public and global community.

According to official Chinese figures, the epidemic killed nearly 3,900 in Wuhan, accounting for the vast majority of the 4,636 dead China has reported.

A panel of independent experts concluded earlier this month that China and the WHO could have acted more quickly to avert catastrophe during the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak.