Thursday, a World Health Organization (WHO) team has arrived in Wuhan to begin investigations into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. The first case of COVID-19 was detected in Wuhan in late 2019.

A group of 10 scientists, who must complete a two-week quarantine in Wuhan before starting their work, is set to interview people from research institutes, hospitals and the seafood market linked to the initial outbreak.

The team lead for the mission, Peter Ben Embarek, told AFP that "It could be a very long journey before we get a full understanding of what happened."

"I don't think we will have clear answers after this initial mission, but we will be on the way," Embarek added.

Chair of the global outbreak and response unit at the WHO, Dale Fisher told the BBC that this visit is  not about politics, it is about getting to "the bottom of a scientific question."

He added that most scientists believe that the virus is a "natural event."

The visit comes as China reports its first COVID-19 death in eight months.

More than 92 million COVID-19 cases and 1.9 million deaths have been recorded worldwide.