One state media outlet in China has indicated that it could have arrived in the province of Wuhan via imported frozen food from countries, including Australia, as the origin of Covid-19 continues to puzzle investigators around the world.
A weekend article in the Global Times argued that Western countries were seeking to "shift the narrative from their own shortcomings" by accusing Wuhan of being where the coronavirus began"
"As the mounting sporadic outbreaks in China were found to be related to imported cold-chain products, with other parts of the world, including Europe and the American continent, reportedly discovering signs of the coronavirus earlier than Wuhan, it begs a new hypothesis – did the early outbreak in Wuhan originate from imported frozen food?"As the increasing sporadic outbreaks in China were found to be related to imported cold-chain products, with other parts of the world, including Europe and the American continent, allegedly finding signs of coronavirus earlier than Wuhan, a new hypothesis arises: did the early outbreak in Wuhan originate from imported frozen food?
Covid-19's first cases were related to a notorious "wet market" with Chinese experts saying in January that the virus had possibly transferred from wild animals to humans.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an independent investigation in April into the source of the virus, sparking an angry response from China, which as relations deteriorate, has since levied a series of punitive tariffs on Australian trade products.
China has fought back, facing international criticism about its handling of the initial outbreak, saying that the virus may have begun overseas and arrived on frozen food packaging.
Chinese officials have previously stated that they have found coronavirus in frozen items, including Brazilian chicken wings, Russian squid, Ecuadorian shrimp, German pork, and Norwegian salmon.
In New Zealand, researchers attempted to decide if a mysterious outbreak of Covid-19 in August may have been loaded into the country in frozen food or even stayed frozen for weeks in a cold storage facility. An employee at the Americold cool store in Mt Wellington was one of the individuals who tested positive for the virus.
The World Health Organization has previously claimed that there is no proof of the transmission of the virus in this way, but the Chinese government has now doubled its theory.
"More and more evidence suggests that the frozen seafood or meat products probably spread the virus from countries with the epidemic into our country," Chinese epidemiologist Wu Zunyou said in a recent interview posted on the government's website, The New York Times reported.
