🔴Covid was spreading "virulently" in Wuhan as early as summer 2019, a new report suggests.
Research claims to have uncovered 'abnormal' purchases of PCR lab equipment in the second half of the year.
@rmendick has this exclusive report 🧵👇
telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…
Analysts trawled through PCR procurement contracts in Hubei Province, of which Wuhan is the capital, and found spending had almost doubled on the previous year
The study by Internet 2.0 says: "We have come to the conclusion that, based on the data analysed, it suggests the virus was highly likely to be spreading virulently in Wuhan, China, as early as the summer of 2019 and definitely by the autumn"
🔴The data and findings have been passed to US government officials amid growing speculation that the virus escaped from a lab in Wuhan
According to the more accepted version of events, Covid originated in a "wet market" selling live animals in Wuhan at the beginning of December
But the new report claims spending on PCR equipment – critical in tracking Covid – in Hubei Province increased to £7.8 million in 2019 from £4 million the year before and £3.3m in 2017
The report alleges that the "significant increase in spending" was noticed from the summer of 2019, beginning as early as May...
That's seven months before public health officials in China notified the World Health Organisation (WHO) that a mysterious illness was spreading through Wuhan
"We believe the increased spending in May suggests this as the earliest start date for possible infection," the study claims.
Read The Telegraph’s exclusive report here 👇
telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…
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