Beijing is stepping up propaganda to blame the epidemic on other countries, but its claims have so far been not trusted by Western scientists.
Nearly a year after doctors identified the first cases of a disturbing new disease in China's Wuhan city, the country appears to be stepping up its campaign to instill doubts about the origin of the Covid-19 global translation.
Chinese media have strongly reported that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been detected on imported frozen food packages, which are not considered important infectious intermediaries elsewhere. The media also talked a lot about investigating possible cases outside of China's border before December 2019.
Change the story
In a Facebook post last week, the People's Daily stated that "any available evidence suggests that the corona virus did not originate from Wuhan, central China".
"Wuhan was the first place where the corona virus was discovered but it is not where it originated," said Zeng Guang, a former head epidemiologist at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, when asked about state media reporting the virus originated outside the country, said only that it is important to distinguish between where it was first discovered and where it was discovered. cross species barriers to infect humans.
"Although China is the first country to record the cases, that doesn't necessarily mean the virus originated in China," spokesman Zhao Lap Kien said at a news conference.
"Traceability is an ongoing process that can involve multiple countries and regions."
Chinese scientists have even submitted a study to be published in Lancet even though the study has not gone through review. The study states "Wuhan is not the first place where human-to-human transmission of Sars-CoV-2 occurred", suggesting instead that the first case may be in the "subcontinent of India". .
Claims that the virus originated outside of China are not trusted by Western scientists. Michael Ryan, director of the World Health Organization (WHO) medical emergency program, said last week the argument that the disease did not first appear in China is "highly speculative".
"It is clear from a public health perspective, you start investigating where human cases first appeared," he said at a press conference in Geneva.
Professor Jonathan Stoye, virologist at the Francis Crick Institute in London, said the report of Covid appearing in Italy in the fall of 2019, based on samples from one cancer unit, appeared "faint." .
"The serological data (from Italy) is most likely explained by cross-reactive antibodies against other corona viruses," he said. In other words, the antibodies found in cases in Italy were activated in individuals already infected with other corona viruses, not Covid-19.
"It seems certain that the first recorded cases of the disease were in China. So it is more likely that the virus originated in China," added Mr. Stoye.
And while traces of the corona virus are found on frozen food packaging, the scientists think this is a very low risk for a disease now believed to be strongly transmitted via respiratory drops.
A positive test "does not show that the virus can infect but just some signals from the virus present on that surface," said Andrew Pekos, of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. with AP.
"I don't see any convincing data showing that Sars-CoV-2 on food packaging poses a significant risk of infection," he said.
But as the human and economic damage caused by the pandemic increases, Beijing wants to protect its reputation at home and abroad. Covid-19 has now infected more than 60 million people and killed nearly 1.5 million people.
International reputation
Since recovering from the devastation of the first outbreak, China has sought to strengthen its position abroad with medical aid.
They are also promoting some of the vaccines they have in the final stages of development as part of a "global good" contribution, production assistance, and immunization funding.
But dissatisfaction over Beijing's role in the final pandemic outbreak may be more difficult to solve than the disease itself.
"China is still struggling to deal with the fact that it is responsible for the first outbreak, which is hindering nearly every attempt to save its image," said Andrew Small, scholar. about China and a senior research fellow at the German Marshall Fund, an American policy advisory body, commented.
"Recent months have shown the great impact the pandemic has had on China in terms of international opinion."
He does not believe that Chinese officials have any doubts about the origin of the virus, and considers the focus of the spread of other places to be a propaganda campaign.
At home, Beijing has successfully promoted the fight against the epidemic and brought life back to normal. On the international level, China's goals probably include instilling doubts among those who may believe it, turning the fundamental truths into a "politically sensitive issue" in the contact with Beijing, Mr. Small said.
China's questioning of the origin of the virus in Wuhan might be more credible if it supported an independent investigation of the disease, but instead, the authorities have repeatedly sought to prevent .
WHO investigators who visited Wuhan earlier this year were unable to visit the market associated with the first outbreak. A new group is scheduled to arrive in China soon to resume the Chinese team's work, but they have not yet determined a departure date. WHO just said that they will go "at the right time".
Understanding the origins of Covid-19 is critical to continued efforts to avert the pandemic. However, Beijing appears to be focusing on finding someone responsible for the epidemic, rather than finding out the cause.