Beijing refutes allegations of coronavirus cover-up

China has been coming under fire for purportedly keeping the severity of the outbreak under wraps. PHOTO: REUTERS

Accusations by the United States that Beijing had ordered coronavirus samples to be destroyed and that China refused to share the virus strain are deliberately misleading, said the National Health Commission yesterday.

It was also only on Jan 19 that the health authorities found "conclusive evidence" of human-to-human transmission, said the commission's vice-minister Zeng Yixin, dispelling nagging allegations of a cover-up.

China has been coming under fire for purportedly keeping the severity of the coronavirus outbreak under wraps, a point of contention for countries from the US to Australia calling for an investigation into Beijing's culpability.

Last month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China of ordering coronavirus samples to be destroyed on Jan 3, and refusing to share the virus strain with other countries, "making it impossible to track the disease's evolution".

These "theories" perpetuated by "some US officials are deliberate misinterpretations aimed to mislead", said a deputy director of the commission, Mr Liu Dengfeng, at a news briefing yesterday.

Health experts were at that time facing a pneumonia of unknown cause, he said.

"In order to forestall the leaking of samples and ensure biosecurity, we took advice from experts and decided to put this pathogen under Tier 2 highly pathogenic micro-organism management and there were clear instructions on the collection, transport, experimental activities and destruction of such samples," he said.

"If a lab does not have the necessary conditions to store samples, they should destroy the samples on site or send them to professional storage institutions. Those are strictly enforced rules."

China is also ready to share the coronavirus strains to help other countries in finding a vaccine, he said.

US-China relations plunged to new lows after the Trump administration blamed Beijing for the virus.

China has lashed back, accusing the US of trying to divert attention from its own mishandling of the outbreak, and making it the scapegoat.

Top Chinese officials have given a timeline of the country's response to the new virus in the critical first few weeks of January, saying it had no definitive proof before Jan 19 that the virus could be transmitted through human contact.

"In the early stage of the epidemic, we were not sure of its transmissibility and incubation period or the source of infection. We strengthened epidemiological investigation to help with our decision-making.

"We did all that work to answer the unknown questions," said Mr Zeng, the vice-minister.

He said health experts confirmed on Jan 9 that the country was dealing with a novel coronavirus and that China "sent a clear warning to the world".

After Thailand discovered on Jan 13 its first confirmed case - a Chinese woman from Wuhan - health chiefs from around the country convened a national teleconference the following day to come up with a national response.

Meanwhile, state-owned China National Biotec Group said on Thursday that two of the vaccines it is developing could be ready by the end of this year or early next year.

It has two vaccine candidates in phase two clinical trials and will be testing their efficacy in phase three trials.

As many as 110 vaccines are being developed, with eight undergoing clinical trials: four in China, three in the US, and one in Britain, says the World Health Organisation.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 16, 2020, with the headline Beijing refutes allegations of coronavirus cover-up. Subscribe