A new study has shown that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, emerged in China in early October and mid-November two months before the first case was identified in Wuhan.
A Hindustan Times report quoted a study by researchers from the University of Kent, UK, as saying that the results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 had emerged in China from early October to mid-November, and by January, globally. but was spread,” said a study by researchers at the University of Kent, UK.
Researchers used conservation science methods to estimate that SARS-CoV-2 first appeared from early October to mid-November 2019, according to a paper published in the journal PLOS Pathogens.
They estimated that the most likely date for the virus to emerge was November 17, 2019, and that it had probably spread globally by January 2020.
China’s first official COVID-19 case was reported in December 2019 and was linked to the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan.
The origins of the COVID-19 pandemic have been the subject of intense debate – and speculation. There have been claims that the Sars-Cov-2 virus was leaked (accidentally or otherwise) from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the first cases were reported. In the early days of the pandemic, this suspicion was dismissed as a conspiracy theory by a large section of scientists. It was also suspected that the virus spread from a seafood market in Wuhan that sold exotic animals, but no evidence has been found to substantiate this theory.
Scientists also suspected that the Sars-Cov-2 virus may have been linked to bats and may have passed on to another mammal before jumping to humans. But the missing link has not been established yet. With no reliable natural source, there has been an increased demand in the West for lab-leak theory investigations. Meanwhile, China – which has faced criticism over its covert approach – has accused the US of spreading propaganda.
A joint report by Chinese scientists and the World Health Organization (WHO), which sent a team to Wuhan, did not draw any firm conclusions on the origin of Sars-Cov-2, although experts said the virus likely leaked from a . The lab was “extremely impossible”. The team said the virus can jump from bats to other animals. But later, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said all theories remained on the table.
(with inputs from Reuters)
read all Breaking Newshandjob today’s fresh news and coronavirus news Here
.