Wuhan

The long-awaited probe comes after months of negotiations between the WHO and Beijing.

A group of 10 scientists is set to interview people from research institutes, hospitals and the seafood market linked to the initial outbreak.

Covid-19 was first detected in Wuhan in central China in late 2019.

The team's arrival on Thursday morning coincides with a resurgence of new coronavirus cases in the north of the country, while life in Wuhan is relatively back to normal.

Beijing has been reluctant to agree to an independent inquiry and it has taken many months of negotiations for the WHO to be allowed access to the city.

The virus is thought to have come from a market in the city selling animals.

But the search for the source has led to tensions, notably with the US.

President Donald Trump's administration has accused China of trying to conceal the initial outbreak.

What is the aim of the investigation?

They had left Wuhan but did not make the charter.

“The Department is working with official information and reports from the PNG Embassy in Beijing, who will liaise with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the Department is liaising with the Chinese Embassy in Port Moresby, through official diplomatic channels,” said Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Patrick Pruaitch.

In response, Minister Jelta Wong said: "My point in the television interview on Tuesday 4 February, 2020, was not to announce that students living in Mainland China are not important, rather it was to highlight the importance of minimising the risk of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCOV) from entering PNG borders - and that a mitigation process must be followed.

PNG High Commissioner to New Zealand, Francis Agwi, also said he was informed by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs that no one at the isolation facility in Whangaparoa, including the 17 PNG students who were evacuated out of Wuhan by the New Zealand government, has shown any signs of infection, nor been tested positive for Novel Coronavirus.

The department also said Kundu Beijing is very much aware of the dire situation that other students are in, as prices of food, water, medical fees, electricity and masks have dramatically increased since the virus outbreak.