WHERE DID IT COME FROM?
Coronavirus DIDN’T start in Wuhan wet market, Chinese researchers claim
by Patrick KnoxWUHAN wet market was not the origin of the coronavirus pandemic as previously thought, it's been claimed.
But it is thought a super-spreader visited there and sparked the Covid-19 outbreak which was to sweep the world within months, killing more than 300,000 people so far.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
Genetic evidence has confirmed the virus originated in Chinese bats before it jumped to humans, but where exactly this happened is unknown.
Originally Chinese authorities said the first cases of the virus emerged at the local seafood market which led to speculation the coronavirus may have made the transition to humans there.
But a new investigation of the animals being sold there has ruled that out.
The Chinese Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took samples of the products in the market and found none had Covid-19.
This led to the new theory that someone visiting the market had already contracted COVID-19 and became a super-spreader - giving it to shoppers and venders.
The Chinese CDC concluded "the the wet market was a victim of the virus" rather than the virus being transmitted from animals on sale.
'ORIGINAL CASES HAD NO LINK TO WET MARKET'
Most of the original 41 virus cases reported to the World Health Organisation in December were linked to the 116 acres market.
Authorities then shut the wet market being shut down on January 1 although the majority of its 3,600 shops had reportedly reopened by April 14.
But it is now thought the virus was circulating in Wuhan before those original 41 cases were first reported.
The Chinese CDC study reveals 13 of the original cases had no link to the wet market at all.
It also concluded the first person confirmed to have coronavirus was likely exposed as early as December 1 before showing symptoms on December 8.
Meanwhile the identity of "patient zero" hasn't been confirmed, but it may have been a 55-year-old man from China's Hubei province who was infected on November 17, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), which reviewed government documents.
The search for the source of the virus has become more complex since US-China relations have soured following President Trump's claim that the virus originated in a laboratory.
The US president has repeatedly told the media he has "evidence" that the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
But China has responded to these allegations with its own conspiracy theory asserting that American soldiers may have been responsible for the outbreak.
Despite this, the UK ministers are reportedly "no longer discounting" the possibility the virus escaped from lab.
It comes after landmark scientific study by biologists Yujia Alina Chan and Benjamin Deverman from the Broad Institute carried out the new research alongside Shing Hei Zhan from the University of British Columbia concluded the virus did not come from the market.
They found evidence suggesting the virus was "pre-adapted to human transmission".