More proof shows earlier global COVID- 19 cases
Next stage virus tracing should be focused on the US
More scientific evidence in countries such as the US and France has emerged to suggest that those countries may have had COVID- 19 cases way before they officially confirmed.
A study of more than 24,000 samples taken for a National Institutes of Health ( NIH) research program in the US between January 2 and March 18, 2020 suggested that seven people in five states – Illinois, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – may have been infected well before the country’s first confirmed cases that were reported in January 21, 2020.
The results suggest that the virus may have been circulating in Illinois, for example, as early as in December 24, 2019, one month earlier than the US authorities confirmed.
Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told Global Times that the US should be prioritized in the next- stage investigation, as the country was slow to test people at an early stage, and it possesses many biological labs all around the world. “All bio- weapons related subjects that the country has should be subject to scrutiny,” Zeng said.
Ju Liya, chief scientist of the European precision medicine platform in France, also told the media last week that after having studied the genetic sequence of the viruses from earlier patients, they found the outbreak in France was caused by an indigenous virus, which was prevailing in the country even before 2020.
She also claimed that the France outbreak had no link with the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the first coronavirus case was reported, as the hereditary feature of the virus strain detected in France is very different from that found in COVID- 19 patients in China.
In response to a question about the US study, Zhao Lijian, spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a Wednesday briefing that scientific journals and scientists around the world have pointed out similar evidence, including Swedish epidemiologists who believe that there were cases of coronavirus in Sweden as far back as November.
“It is obvious that the outbreak had multiple origins,” said Zhao.
The spokesperson said under this perspective, next- stage virus- tracing investigations should be focused on various countries and regions, instead of just one. He also urged other countries to cooperate with WHO on virus tracing, like what China has done with the organization.
Western politicians’ playing with the “lab- leak” theory or jab at China for being responsible are just tricks to get themselves away from their mishandling of the pandemic, a Beijingbased immunologist who requested anonymity told the Global Times, noting that their politicalizing the issue is standing in the way of scientists to find answers to the pandemic.