The first information about the genome of the original variant of the coronavirus has disappeared: they were removed from American bases in June 2020. Bloomberg writes about this, citing sources.
This is a strain first identified in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019. Information about the genome of the virus was stored in the base of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), it was provided by the Chinese authorities.
However, then the Chinese researchers withdrew this information: then they said that the information should be updated, and the old one should be removed “in order to avoid discrepancies.” Bloomberg sources at the NIH explained that the researchers from the PRC had every right to dispose of their data.
“Our institute cannot speculate about the motives [of the researchers who recalled the data]. Especially if it goes beyond what the Chinese scientists themselves are talking about, ”added the NIH representatives.
Now the disappearance of the first data on SARS-CoV-2 raises suspicions: for example, the American virologist Jesse Bloom believes that the Chinese authorities could have hidden other information about the outbreak in Wuhan.
Scientists and politicians have repeatedly said that Beijing may deliberately withhold data on the spread of the coronavirus. In particular, at the end of May, Republicans from the US House of Representatives published a report on a possible leak of infection from a Chinese research laboratory. The document claims that the American side has “serious circumstantial evidence” of such a position.
In addition, in May, an international group of scientists acknowledged that there are two plausible versions of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: it could have arisen as a result of zoonosis (an infectious disease), or as a result of a virus leak from the laboratory.
