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Researchers from the World Health Organization said 90 people in central China were hospitalized after having symptoms similar to Covid-19 disease, in the two months before the disease was first detected in Wuhan at the end of 2019, according to the Wall. Street Journal.
The researchers added that they pressured Beijing to allow more tests to determine whether the new Corona virus spread earlier than previously reported.
Chinese authorities have performed antibody tests on about two-thirds of these patients in recent months and reported that no traces of the virus were found, according to the researchers.
But members of the WHO team investigating the origin of the epidemic said any antibody could drop to undetectable levels long after infection.
“More studies are needed,” said Peter bin Mubarak, head of the WHO team, which concluded a month-long visit to China.
The team members said they urged China to conduct more extensive testing of blood samples collected in the fall of 2019 around Hubei, the province that includes Wuhan, to look for clues as to when the virus first spread.
Researchers from the World Health Organization (WHO) said Chinese authorities said they had not yet obtained the necessary permits to examine samples, many of which are in blood banks.
China’s response to the World Health Organization raises questions about the possible spread of the Covid-19 virus that has now killed more than 2.3 million people in China since October 2019, and whether early detection can help contain the outbreak before it becomes a global pandemic. .
Beijing says the first patient to develop symptoms was on December 8, 2019.
Last Tuesday, an expert from China’s National Health Commission said the Corona virus could have spread to other regions before being detected in the central city of Wuhan.
Liang Wanyan added, during a press conference at the end of the WHO team’s visit, that the virus was not spreading widely in the city before the end of 2019.
Source: Free
