The World Health Organisation (WHO) team of
investigators who launched a probe to track the origins of the novel
coronavirus in China discovered that the virus had infected a much wider
population in Wuhan in 2019, CNN reported. The team is currently seeking to examine
blood samples from the city that China has denied them access to. Peter Ben
Embarek, the lead investigator of the WHO mission, told CNN they had discovered
signs of the presence of over a dozen strains of the virus in Wuhan in December.

The team also spoke to the first
patient to have been reported with the infection on December 8, 2020 in China.

“The virus was circulating widely in Wuhan in
December, which is a new finding,” Ben Embarek told CNN.

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Ben Embarek also said that the number of severe
cases reported in China in December 2019 only show that the virus had infected
a much larger population showing mild cases as well.

The lead investigator said that the team, while
exploring a new strategy, broadened the type of genetic material under study
from the early COVID-19 cases in December. This gave them access to partial
genetic sequences as well which allowed them to find 13 different genetic
sequences of the SARS CoV-2 virus from December 2019. Further information would
solve the mystery related to the timing of the outbreak of the virus.

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Ben Embarek is yet to make sense of the 13 genetic
strains found. The discovery of numerous variants of the virus in December
could suggest that the virus had been circulating for a longer time, as stated
by virologists.

China has extended cooperation and pledged
transparency with the WHO investigation.  The US pressed for gaining access to earlier data
from China.

“What the U.S. has done in recent years has severely
undermined multilateral institutions, including the WHO, and gravely damaged
international cooperation on COVID-19,” a spokesperson for the Chinese
Embassy in the United States said in the statement.

The WHO investigation team will plan to make
another visit to Wuhan in later months and continue with their studies, Ben
Embarek said.