COVID-19 | An international mission led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is expected to go to China in the first week of January to investigate the origins of the virus that sparked the Covid-19 pandemic, a member and diplomats told Reuters on Wednesday.

The United States, which has accused China of having hidden the outbreak's extent, has called for a "transparent" WHO-led investigation and criticised its terms, which allowed Chinese scientists to do the first phase of preliminary research.

China reported the first cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan, central China, to the WHO on Dec 31 and closed a market where the...