The World Health Organization has issued a reprimand to China for delaying the entry of travel experts to the country in hopes to prove the origin of the virus. The rebuke was a rare public criticism from the international organization.

This was a response to Chinese officials' move to deny entry to WHO-appointed experts to enter the country. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said some of them embarked on travel, according to a Bloomberg report.

Chinese officials and the expert team composing of 10 members have been in discussion and planning for months.

"I am very disappointed with this news given that two members had already begun their journeys and others were not able to travel at the last minute," Tedros was quoted on a report.

The WHO Director-General added that they are eager to get the mission underway as soon as possible.

Tedros added that the members of the international scientific team started leaving them home countries over the previous 24 hours as part of an arrangement between WHO and China. However, Chinese officials had still not finalized the necessary permissions needed for the entry.

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Chinese officials barring entry

WHO describes the mission as priority, which China obstructed, as reported by The Guardian.

This was reportedly part of the efforts and attempts to reshape the narrative of where the disease originates, despite global scientific studies that COVID-19 first jumped from animals into humans in China.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying addressed the issue in a news briefing in Beijing, saying that the problem for the team's entry was not just about the matter of visas.

She said that there had been a misunderstanding between the two parties and the two sides were still in discussions over the timing and arrangements.

Hua said that they need to carry out the necessary procedures and relevant plans to ensure that the work of the global experts group in China is successful.

The spokeswoman said that both sides are currently still in negotiations on this.

Hua assured that they are still supporting the international cooperating and advancing internal preparations, adding that they are still in communication with the WHO, according to a BBC report.

COVID-19 origins still shrouded in questions

The first clue where the COVID-19 origin was the market in China. Out of a sample of 41 early confirmed cases, 70 percent were stall owners, employees, or regular customers of the Huanan market, which was popular for selling not only seafoods, but also live animals. 

However, the first confirmed case had no obvious connection.

On Jan. 1 last year, the market was closed by the Chinese authorities and was comprehensively cleaned and disinfected, according to another The Guardian report.

Meanwhile, a senior U.S. official claimed that there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the Wuhan Institute of Virology is possibly the most credible source for the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a World is One News report.

U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger said that China's claims of the virus coming from the Wuhan market originally are false.

Pottinger added that COVID-19 may have accidently leaked from the lab.

Related story: Experts Suggest Novel Coronavirus Originated From Lab in Wuhan