Early in the pandemic, there were attempts to downplay the possibility that the COVID-19 virus originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which conducted radical gain-of-function experiments on coronaviruses, some of which were funded by the US. A laboratory origin now seems far from the most likely explanation.
However, the exact timeline of the initial leak and subsequent spread is still somewhat hazy: the Chinese government covered up the initial spread and destroyed key evidence, making it difficult to pinpoint exactly when and how the virus escaped.
But BlazeNews recently discovered that China may not have been the only country reluctant to publicize the disease in Wuhan in late 2019.
Play games on timeline
A few months ago, the World Health Organization declare COVID-19 is a pandemic, Wuhan Municipal Health Commission report A cluster of pneumonia cases occurred in late December 2019. The members of this cluster were far from being patient zero.
Three Researchers Researchers working on coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (including subcontractors to EcoHealth Alliance) developed “symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses” that required hospitalization in November 2019.
Chinese state media
Shown He said the virus may have started spreading as early as September of that year, but in a desperate attempt to shift the blame elsewhere, he claimed it started in the United States.
Researchers from Boston University and Harvard Medical School Analyzed The team analysed satellite imagery of a hospital parking lot in Wuhan and search queries on China’s version of Google from 2018 to the end of 2019 and concluded that the virus may have started spreading as early as August 2019.
“In September and October 2019, five of the six hospitals recorded their highest ever relative daily case counts. [parking lot] “The viral load of the analyzed set is consistent with an increase in the frequency of searches for the terms ‘diarrhea’ and ‘cough’ on Baidu,” the study said. “Our evidence supports other recent studies showing that emergence occurred prior to its identification at the Huanan Seafood Market.”
We found a particular increase in searches for diarrhea in August, something that had not been seen in previous influenza seasons and was not reflected in the cough search data. Although unexpected, this finding is consistent with recent recognition that gastrointestinal symptoms may be a unique feature of COVID-19 illness and a presenting complaint in a significant proportion of patients. This increase in searches for symptoms was followed in October and November by increased traffic in the hospital parking lot and increased searches for cough. We cannot conclusively determine the reason for this increase, but we hypothesize that widespread community transmission may have led to more acute cases requiring medical attention, higher viral loads, and worsening symptoms.
If the virus had been widespread by at least October, the Games, which brought nearly 10,000 athletes from around the world to Wuhan, would have been the perfect vehicle for spreading the virus around the world in a short space of time.
In fact, some researchers was suggested The 7th Military World Games, held in Wuhan from October 18 to October 28, featured representatives from 109 countries, with some competitions taking place close to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, making it a likely real super-spreader event.
Mixed messages
Two Canadian military personnel asked not to be identified because they are still serving in the military. Said In 2021, the Financial Post reported that there had been cases at the Olympics.
One military member claimed, “12 days after arriving, I developed severe symptoms including fever, chills, vomiting and insomnia. On the return flight (at the end of October), the 60 Canadian athletes on board were quarantined (in the back of the plane) for the 12-hour flight. We suffered a variety of symptoms from coughing to diarrhea.”
After returning to Canada, the service member said family members became ill and symptoms worsened and spread, with them experiencing fatigue, nosebleeds, fever and difficulty breathing.
He said he had been examined by military doctors “for a variety of problems” but never had any “respiratory system tests.”
“A quarter of us got sick, both there and when we got home. Some were bedridden for weeks. This made us potential vectors for the virus. The military did nothing. I and others got sick with Wuhan symptoms… I eventually got a swab test which only measures recent contacts and was told to carry on,” said another soldier.
Canadian players have reportedly been told by the Chief Surgeon General that the risk of infection is “negligible.”
Julia Scott, public affairs adviser for the Canadian Forces Health Services public affairs department, told the Post, “We are not aware of any members of the Canadian Armed Forces or civilians becoming ill during the game or after returning home. There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 within this group.”
“Because their stay in Wuhan was long before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and before anyone was aware of the existence of the virus, the service members were not tested upon their return. COVID-19 testing was not available in Canada until January 2020,” Scott continued. “After becoming aware of the potential risk, the Royal Canadian Air Force and Department of National Defence immediately took precautions to ensure that RCAF personnel do not become ill or be exposed to further infection related to COVID-19.”
Story Slide
BlazeNews recently spoke to the Canadian Department of National Defense, Awareness As expressed by the Post, perceptions of CAF members and civilians falling ill at the Wuhan Games have changed in the years since.
In response, a Pentagon spokesperson repeated much of what the department had previously told The Washington Post, but said it had “subsequently learned that some athletes experienced gastrointestinal symptoms during their flight to Wuhan to attend the Military World Games and again during their flight back to Canada.”
“Their symptoms and the course of illness over the course of one to three days were consistent with gastrointestinal illness, i.e. ‘stomach flu’ and they were treated as such, following general contact precautions when treating patients with mild gastrointestinal illness,” the spokesperson added.
Mayo Clinic list Symptoms of gastroenteritis include diarrhea, nausea, stomach cramps, muscle pain, headache, and fever.
Judging by the symptoms, it seems that gastroenteritis could be mistaken for COVID-19, or vice versa. COVID-19 Listing According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, main symptoms include diarrhea, nausea, muscle pain and headache.
Canada’s Department of National Defence has yet to respond to follow-up questions from BladesNews about the basis and timing of that decision and whether the players’ gastrointestinal illness was determined not to be COVID-19.
The spokesman’s suggestion that the players fell ill on the way to Wuhan could create confusion, especially given China’s efforts in the past to claim that Western countries brought the virus to Wuhan. Through the game.
For example, Chinese agents Obsessed with the theory The first patient was Marche Benassi, a US Army reservist competing in Wuhan, who suffered a concussion in an accident while cycling there.
BlazeNews reached out to coaches from the countries who competed in Wuhan and numerous athletes, as well as officials from the International Military Sports Council, which organises the events, to try to learn more about the type of illness that is alleged to have occurred at the events and its source.
So far there has been silence about infections at the Olympics, but the pandemic didn’t start that early on.
Early suspicion of infection
In the early days of the pandemic, there were multiple reports and confessions of infection at tournaments, in addition to the anonymous Canadian athlete.
French pentathlete Elodie Clouvel, part of the French delegation invited to take part in the Olympics, suggested in early 2020 that she and many other athletes likely contracted COVID-19 at the Olympics. report American Prospect.
“At the end of October, we were in Wuhan for the World Military Games. Then we all got sick. Valentin missed three days of training. I got sick too. … It was something I’d never experienced before. No one had talked about it yet, so I wasn’t really worried,” Crovel said. “A lot of athletes who were at the World Military Games were very ill. I was in contact with a military doctor recently, and he said, ‘A lot of people in this delegation were sick, so we think you have it.'”
Luxembourg swimmer Julien Henks Said RTL radio reported that two of his teammates had fallen ill during the competition, and said, “There were 200,000 Chinese volunteers there who went home in the evening and most likely transmitted the virus to them.”
German volleyball player Jacqueline Block Shown “A few days later, some players on my team got sick and then over the last two days, I got sick too,” he said in early 2020.
“I’ve never been this sick,” Brock continued. “It was either a bad cold or COVID-19.”
Italian fencer Matteo Tagliarole Said Corriere della Sera: “When we arrived in Wuhan, almost everyone got sick. But the worst part was when we returned home. A week later I had a high fever and felt like I couldn’t breathe. Antibiotics didn’t cure me and after three weeks I recovered, but I remained weak for a long time. Then my son and partner got sick too. When people started talking about the virus, I said to myself: ‘I have it too’.”
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