COVID-19: Two WHO team members to Wuhan test positive, being retested in Singapore

Two members of the international team, sent by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to investigate the origin of COVID-19 in Wuhan, have tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, the UN health body said on Thursday. According to WHO, the 15-member team had undergone COVID-19 tests in their home countries prior to leaving for Wuhan, however, upon reaching Singapore, two members of the team tested positive for Immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies, but negative for PCR. 

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WHO has said that the two scientists are still in Singapore undergoing tests for COVID-19 for both IgM and IgG antibodies. WHO has said that all 15 members were tested multiple times in their home countries prior to leaving for Wuhan, producing negative results on every single occasion. The rest of the team members have left Singapore and arrived in Wuhan, where they will remain isolated for at least two weeks before beginning their on-ground investigation. 

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"13 members of the international mission to study the origins of the virus have arrived in Wuhan today. The other two are still in Singapore after they tested positive for IgM antibodies, but negative for PCR. They are now being retested for both IgM and IgG, and we are waiting for results. The team members who have arrived in Wuhan will be in quarantine for the next two weeks and will begin working remotely with counterparts in China," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom said during a press briefing. 

Controversy before the team arrived in Wuhan

The scientific visit of the WHO team was mired in controversy even before they left for Wuhan. China last week had denied entry to two members of the team while they were on their way to the country, citing a permissions-related issue. The arrangements to allow a WHO team to travel to China were reached after months of negotiations with Beijing, but after last moment denial by Chinese authorities, the WHO chief said he was disappointed by the news. 

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Earlier, it was reported that China has refused to disclose the exact date and other details of the visit, including the places where the investigators will be allowed to visit and people they will be allowed to meet. The international community has already accused China of covering up the true origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the United States going a step further to claim that the virus has been developed by Chinese scientists inside a lab. The international team will determine exactly how the virus emerged in China, which experts believe was transmitted from bats to humans at an illegally-run seafood market in Wuhan.

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