WHO team to probe COVID-19 origins will arrive in China on Jan 14

• China’s national health authority made the announcement on Monday.
  
• The National Health Commission, which announced the date, did not offer details on the team’s itinerary.
• The pandemic first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.
  

BEIJING: China’s national health authority on Monday confirmed that a World Health Organisation (WHO) team of international experts tasked with investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic will arrive in China on January 14.

The team was initially aiming to enter China in early January for the investigation but their arrival was delayed due to a lack of authorisation from Beijing for their entry.

The National Health Commission, which announced the date, did not offer details on the team’s itinerary.

Read more: UK vaccinating 200,000 a day against coronavirus

The pandemic first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. 

Mainland China saw its biggest daily increase in COVID-19 cases in more than five months, the national health authority said on Monday, as new infections in Hebei province surrounding Beijing rose. 

The total number of new COVID-19 cases stood at 103 in China, the highest since 127 cases were reported on July 30.