Two members of origin-tracing team test positive for IgM antibodies: WHO chief

GENEVA -- Two members of the international expert team of the World Health Organization (WHO) scheduled to fly from Singapore to China's Wuhan on Thursday have been tested positive for IgM antibodies, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday.

At the 6th Meeting of the Emergency Committee on COVID-19, Tedros said that the other 13 members of the team to study the origins of the novel coronavirus have arrived in Wuhan as scheduled.

"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 WHO chief said.

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, he said.

They will then continue their work on the ground for another two weeks, Tedros said.

A WHO tweet on Thursday said that all team members had multiple negative PCR and antibody tests for COVID-19 in their home countries prior to traveling.

"They were tested again in Singapore and were all negative for PCR. But two members tested positive for IgM antibodies," the WHO tweeted.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday announced that an international expert team of the WHO is scheduled to fly from Singapore to Wuhan on Thursday, and the team for the origin-tracing of the novel coronavirus will conduct joint research with Chinese scientists.