China is covering traces leading to the start of the coronavirus pandemic

Yuris Paiders, Riga

Chinese state media are increasingly reporting on the coronavirus detected in imported frozen food, as well as cases of Covid-19 detected outside of China until December 2019. Several Chinese media outlets immediately reported that Covid-19 entered China with Russian railway cargoes that enter the country every day.

Official organ of the Chinese Communist Party the People's Daily newspaper published on her Facebook page that "according to them, the coronavirus first appeared not at all in the Chinese city of Wuhan".

“Wuhan was the place where the coronavirus was first identified, but not the place where the virus originated,” said former lead epidemiologist at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention Zeng Guang. According to him, it is very important to distinguish where the virus was first detected, and where it overcame the species barrier and began to infect people.

“Although China was the first to report cases, this does not mean that the virus originated in China,” Zhao Lijian said during a press briefing. "Tracing the origin of the virus is an ongoing process in which other countries and regions can participate".

Chinese scientists have even submitted an article for publication in the leading medical journal Lancet claiming that "Wuhan is not where the first person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurred". Moreover, it says that the first case of infection may have occurred in India.

However, Western scientists believe the virus is unlikely to have originated outside of China. WHO expert Michael Ryan noted that it would be "very speculative" to claim that the virus did not come from China.

“From a public health perspective, it is clear that investigations should start where the first cases of the virus have been identified”, - he said at a press briefing in Geneva.

Although traces of the coronavirus have indeed been found in frozen foods, scientists believe the risk of infection in such cases is very low, since the disease is transmitted mainly by airborne droplets.

The Guardian writes that as the damage caused by the pandemic increases, Beijing wants to protect its reputation as well. More than 60 million people worldwide have contracted Covid-19, 1.5 million of whom have died. According to experts, top Chinese officials are aware that the virus originated in China, and reports of other places of origin of the pandemic can be considered a propaganda campaign.

It would be much more helpful if China supported the independent investigation, but the Chinese authorities have repeatedly obstructed this. For example, WHO officials who visited Wuhan in early 2021 were not even allowed to enter a food market believed to be linked to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Experts are confident it will be vital to understand the origins of Covid-19 in order to prevent future pandemics. Unfortunately, at present, Beijing is more concerned about who is to blame for the pandemic, rather than where it came from.