The world’s closest known match to the Covid-19 virus was found seven years ago by Chinese scientists in an abandoned mine where it was linked to deaths caused by a coronavirus-type respiratory illness.
An investigation by The Sunday Times has found evidence that China has failed to publicly share this crucial information about the sister virus to Covid-19, even though it is the strongest lead in the hunt for the origin of the pandemic.
The “new strain” of coronavirus, which was discovered in the mine in 2013, has been stored for years at a virology lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the Covid-19 pandemic started at the end of last year.
It was found after six men were struck down in 2012 with