Having previously blamed Italy, the US and Europe, without much evidence, for the coronavirus outbreak, the Chinese scientists have now claimed that the deadly novel coronavirus originated in India in the summer of 2019.
A team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences claimed that the COVID-19 virus likely originated in India in summer 2019 – jumping from animals to humans via contaminated water – before travelling unnoticed to Wuhan, where it was first detected.
In their paper, the Chinese team use phylogenetic analysis to trace the origins of Covid-19. Viruses, like all cells, mutate as they reproduce, meaning tiny changes occur in their DNA each time they replicate themselves, according to a DailyMail report.
However, David Robertson, an expert from Glasgow University, has rejected this claim and called the theory proposed by the Chinese researchers was ‘very flawed’. He concluded that ‘it adds nothing to our understanding of coronavirus’.
This is not the first time that Chinese authorities have pointed the finger of blame elsewhere – suggesting, largely without evidence, that both Italy and the US could be the site of the original infection.
And it comes against a backdrop of increased political tensions between India and China, with troops attacking each-other along a disputed border. Viruses, like all cells, mutate as they reproduce, meaning tiny changes occur in their DNA each time they replicate themselves.