“WHO’s international experts have repeatedly said that during their visit to China, they went to all the places they wanted to go and met all the people they wanted to see,” Mao added.
China went into lockdown in January 2020, with countries around the world quickly following suit to curb the spread of the virus. Schools were closed, staff told to work from home, flights canceled, mask mandates introduced, and people urged to stay indoors as the virus, which killed 40,000 people per month in Europe at the height of infection, surged around the world.
In 2023, genetic data gathered from a live food market in Wuhan was uploaded by Chinese scientists to an international database, which linked Covid-19 with raccoon dogs. A team of international researchers said they were the “most likely conduits” of the disease.
China has nevertheless faced criticism for its approach to communication about the outbreak, having stifled domestic reporting and imposed controls on scientific research into the origins of the virus. It also initially blocked entry to the WHO team in 2021 and tightly controlled the visit after it was allowed to go ahead. Chinese officials also suggested that the disease could have come from overseas.
According to the WHO, more than 7 million people have died from Covid, while more than 760 million cases have been recorded worldwide. In May 2023, it said Covid-19 was no longer a public health emergency.
