Filenews 15 February 2021
Indications that the initial spread of the coronavirus in Wuhan (officially reported in December 2019) may have occurred much earlier and were geographically wider in China, according to an exclusive report by the US network CNN.
For the first time it was found that 13 strains of the virus were already circulating in Wuhan, the head of the international mission, Peter Ben Ebarek, told the US network. Now, reports CNN, experts are "urgently seeking access to hundreds of thousands of blood samples" of residents of the Chinese city.
Comparative examination of these strains with a broader database of diseases in China in 2019 could provide valuable data on the temporal and geographical spread of the virus, even "before December," he adds.
Having just completed his mission in Wuhan, the WHO team hopes to return within the next few months. "There are about 200,000 samples available that are safe and could be used in a new set of studies," Peter Ben Esbarek stressed, while acknowledging that "technical difficulties" are likely to arise in this regard.
Amid escalating pressure, meanwhile, from the WHO and the US to release more evidence of the pandemic, Beijing responded by attacking the Chinese embassy in Washington. "US actions in recent years have seriously undermined multilateral institutions, including the WHO, and seriously damaged international co-operation on COVID-19," the statement said. "Acting as if none of this had happened, the US points the finger at other countries that faithfully support the WHO."
Source: news.in.gr
