First Covid-19 case reported in Wuhan, doesn’t mean virus originated here: China

Battling global adversity over the coronavirus and bracing for a WHO inquiry over its origin, China on Friday claimed that just because Covid-19 cases were first reported in Wuhan does not mean the contagion originated from the central Chinese city.

Various outlets of the state-run Chinese media have been carrying reports in recent days stating that a number of imported food products from different countries, including a consignment of fish from India, were found to have traces of the Covid-19 alleging that the virus may have entered China through foreign routes.

Asked whether that is China’s official view too, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here that “even though China was the first to report coronavirus but doesn’t necessarily mean China is where the virus originated”.

“So we believe the origin process is a complex scientific issue which requires joint efforts on COVID-19 cooperation from the scientific community worldwide. Only by doing so we can guard against future risks because origin tracing is an evolving and sustained process that involves many countries and regions,” he said.