China doubles down on Covid-19 narrative as WHO investigation looms

As a staff from the World Health Organization (WHO) prepares to go to China to research the origins of Covid-19, Beijing has stepped up efforts not solely to forestall new outbreaks, but additionally form the narrative about when and the place the pandemic started.China has dismissed criticism of its early dealing with of the coronavirus, first recognized within the metropolis of Wuhan on the finish of 2019, and international ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying mentioned on Monday that the nation would welcome the WHO staff.But amid simmering geopolitical tensions, consultants mentioned the investigators had been unlikely to be allowed to scrutinise among the extra delicate facets of the outbreak, with Beijing determined to keep away from blame for a virus that has killed greater than 1.8 million folks worldwide.“Even before this investigation, top officials from both sides have been very polarised in their opinions on the origins of the outbreak,” mentioned Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, a U.S. suppose tank.“They will have to be politically savvy and draw conclusions that are acceptable to all the major parties,” he added.While different nations proceed to wrestle with an infection surges, China has aggressively doused flare-ups. After a brand new cluster of instances final week, town of Shenyang sealed off whole communities and required all non-essential employees to remain dwelling. On Saturday, senior diplomat Wang Yi praised the anti-pandemic efforts, saying China not solely curbed home infections, but additionally “took the lead in building a global anti-epidemic defence” by offering help to greater than 150 nations. But conscious of the criticism China has confronted worldwide, Wang additionally grew to become the highest-ranking official to query the consensus about Covid-19’s origins, saying “more and more studies” present that it emerged in a number of areas.China can be the one nation to assert Covid-19 could be transmitted through chilly chain imports, with the nation blaming new outbreaks in Beijing and Dalian on contaminated shipments – regardless that the WHO has downplayed these dangers. Transparency China has been accused of a cover-up that delayed its preliminary response, permitting the virus to unfold additional. The matter stays delicate, with solely a handful of research into the origins of Covid-19 made obtainable to the general public.But there have additionally been indicators China is keen to share data that contradicts the official image. Last week, a research by China’s Center for Disease Control confirmed that blood samples from 4.43% of Wuhan’s inhabitants contained Covid-19 antibodies, indicating that town’s an infection charges had been far larger than initially acknowledged.But scientists mentioned China should additionally share any findings suggesting Covid-19 was circulating domestically lengthy earlier than it was formally recognized in December 2019. An Italian research confirmed that Covid-19 may need been in Europe a number of months earlier than China’s first official case. Chinese state media used the paper to assist theories that Covid-19 originated abroad and entered China through contaminated frozen meals or international athletes competing on the World Military Games in Wuhan in October 2019.Raina MacIntyre, head of the Kirby Institute’s Biosecurity Research Program in Australia, mentioned the investigation wanted to attract “a comprehensive global picture of the epidemiological clues”, together with any proof Covid-19 was current outdoors of China earlier than December 2019. However, political points imply they’re unlikely to be given a lot leeway to research one speculation, that the outbreak was attributable to a leak on the Wuhan Institute of Virology, mentioned MacIntyre. “I think it is unlikely all viruses in the lab at the time will be made available to the team,” she mentioned. “So I do not think we will ever know the truth.”