Amid the growing tension between India and China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences pins the blame for coronavirus on India, according to latest reports.
More than 6 crore people in the world have been infected by the deadly virus, SARS-CoV-2 and about 14 lac lives have been accounted till now.
The Claims Made By Chinese Researchers
As the World Health Organisation (WHO) team gears up to investigate the origin of the virus, Chinese researchers come up with a new theory.
In a new report entitled as ‘The Early Cryptic Transmission and Evolution of Sars-Cov-2 in Human Hosts,’ they have claimed that the viral disease originated in India in the summer of 2019.
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They also alleged that it transmitted from animals to humans through contaminated water, and then travelled unnoticed to Wuhan, where it was first identified.
It was first linked to cases of ‘pneumonia of unknown origin’ at a seafood market in Wuhan city. However, according to WHO’s report the first case was found in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
Chinese Researchers Suspect 8 Other Countries for this
Since the beginning of the pandemic, it was reported that coronavirus originated in China. However, the scientists argue just because Wuhan is where the virus was first detected, it doesn’t mean it is the place of its origin.
The Chinese scientists in their paper have used ‘phylogenetic analysis’ which is the study of virus mutation. Virus, like all cells, mutate as they reproduce, meaning tiny changed occur in their DNA each time they replicate themselves. They said, their method of the investigation disqualifies the initial claims that the virus found in Wuhan.
Instead they pin it at eight other countries like Bangladesh, USA, Greece, Australia, India, Italy, Czech Republic, Russia or Serbia.
They also speculated that the second-largest recorded heat wave that rampaged from May to June 2019 in India and Pakistan created a serious water crisis in the region. This would have led to wild animals such as monkey to fight over water among each other, which in turn, would have increased the chance of human-wild animal interactions, according to them.
They also hypothesized the poor healthcare system and young population, with less severe symptoms, allowed the virus to spread undetected for several months. Adding to that they further claimed coronavirus could have spread to other countries on their list before coming to China.
Experts Call Chinese Research Flawed And Biased
Despite the claims of the Chinese researchers, many experts rubbished the claims, calling them ‘flawed.’ David Robertson, a Glasgow University expert, found that the argument made added little to the understanding of the viral disease and it was “inherently biased.”
This is not the first time China has pointed fingers at other countries.
However, the first target of the blame was Italy, followed by the US and many other countries. The latest in China’s list of countries to be blamed for coronavirus is India. This comes against the backdrop of increasing political tensions between the two countries.