China to investigate thousands of blood samples from Wuhan in COVID probe: Report

China is gearing up to test tens of thousands of blood bank samples from the city of Wuhan, which was one of the first epicentres of COVID-19 in 2019, as a part of an investigation into the origins of Coronavirus, reported CNN citing a Chinese official. The report added that the latest move by the Chinese government came as Beijing continues to be under fire for lack of transparency over the emergence of SARS-CoV-2. 

The database of up to 200,000 samples including the ones from the closing months of 2019 were acknowledged in February 2021 by the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) panel of investigators as a potential source of crucial information about the origin of COVID-19. Reportedly, WHO investigators also noted that the store of those cases could help in determining when and where the Coronavirus jumped from animals to humans. 

As per the report, the samples are kept in the Wuhan Blood Center and are believed to span 2019 including real-time tissue samples from a wide swathe of the Wuhan population where the first cases are said to have infected humans. Reportedly, the Chinese officials have said that the blood bank samples have been retained for two years considering if they are required as evidence in any lawsuits related to the blood donations they are from. 

Notably, the two-year-long wait is expected to end for the key months of October and November 2019 when most experts believe the animal-origin Coronavirus could have infected humans for the first time. China’s National Health Commission official told CNN that preparation for testing is presently ongoing and confirmed testing would only take place once the two-year limit was reached. 

The US media outlet quoted a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, Yanzhong Huang saying that that the blood bank samples provides the “closest in the world” that authorities have seen of the real-time samples to enhance the understanding of the Coronavirus outbreak in China. Meanwhile, an associate professor of epidemiology at Colombia University, Maureen Miller, as quoted by CNN, said that the samples “absolutely will contain vital clues.” She reportedly also called on China to allow the foreign experts to observe the entire process. 

China Denies WHO's request to inspect Bat Caves, Animal Farms

Additionally, China rejected  the World Health Organization’s (WHO) request to inspect the bat caves and animal breeding farms to enhance knowledge about the Coronavirus. As per an exclusive report by Washington Post, Beijing denied WHO’s request to access China’s wildlife farming areas like Enshi even though the UN health agency called it a crucial step in the search for the origins of the novel Coronavirus. 

The media outlet has stated that following the publication of the report, WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic noted that the UN health agency has suggested the requirement to trace back the wildlife trade from markets in Wuhan, but there was no specific request to visit the Hubei area. These so-called ‘bat caves’ reportedly refer to the hundreds of caves spread throughout the mountains of Enshi prefecture in China which is also the nation’s agricultural corner in Hubei province. 

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