COVID-19 origin experts could be right about the virus coming from China; however, are they on the right path? According to an American virologist, scientists are missing something that’s right in front of them.
World Health Organization (WHO) sent a research team on Chinese ground to find out the origins of the deadly virus that started a global pandemic. Experts went to Wuhan, China, to take samples from the Baishazhou market. Although the market is not as known as the Huanan market, people believe it’s the place where COVID-19 first slipped inside a human cell.
According to a new study, it seems that the Chinese government could indeed cover up the situation. Experts found out that vendors sold only frozen foods, ingredients, and kitchenware at the market. However, data from over 30 months shows that at least two vendors sold live wild animals. Bloomberg reports reveal that a Huanan stall employee was trading goods back and forth with the Baishazhou market. This means the wildlife trade could be the COVID-19 origin.
Stephen Goldstein, an evolutionary virology research associate at the University of Utah, believes the link between the two market vendors is “intriguing”. However, as intriguing as this detail might be, it won’t be possible to find if the employee was in contact with infected animals, as they are long gone. Nevertheless, it seems like China was trying to hide this small detail from the general public. Whether the wildlife trade was the cause or not, it will remain a mystery.
“It seems to me, at a minimum, that local or regional authorities kept that information quiet deliberately. It’s incredible to me that people theorize about one type of cover-up,” said Goldstein making a reference to the virus being leaked from a lab, while “an obvious cover-up is staring them right in the face.”
Could the wildlife trade be the COVID-19 origin? Let’s hope that further investigation will tell the truth.