‘Like a ghost town’: How early did China know about Covid-19?

Athletes who competed in Wuhan’s Military World Games in 2019 report that the city was like a “ghost town” after many came down with Covid-like symptoms.

Athletes who competed in Wuhan’s Military World Games in October 2019, claim that the city was like a “ghost town” with many coming down with Covid-like symptoms, according to reports which could dramatically change what the world knows about the pandemic’s origins.

About 10,000 competitors took part in the games — described as the “military olympics” — with their concerns now raised by a US Congressman.

One athlete from Luxembourg reported “nearly empty” streets in Wuhan during the games recalling: “It was a ghost town” and “there were rumours that the government warned the inhabitants not to go out”.

The clams were written up in a letter from Rep. Mike Gallagher to the Pentagon first reported by the Washington Post.

“While anecdotal, these reports raise important questions about the timeline of the initial COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan.”

French athletes at the Wuhan Military World Games in 2019.

According to reports in the UK Daily Mail, several athletes claimed that they got sick during or after the games.

German volleyballer Jacqueline Bock said: “after a few days, some athletes from my team got ill”, adding that her father got sick a few weeks after she returned home.

“I have never felt so sick … either it was a very bad cold or Covid-19. I think it was Covid-19,” she said.

Empty streets post lockdown in Wuhan, China last year. Source: Simon Carter

Similar claims were made by an Italian fencer who said everyone in the apartment building where he was staying for the games came down with “symptoms that looked like those of Covid-19”.

And Luxembourg triathlete Oliver Georges said Wuhan’s streets were “nearly empty”, and that his temperature was taken when he arrived at the airport for the competition.

“It was a ghost town. There were rumours that the government warned the inhabitants not to go out,” he said.

If substantiated, the claims would dramatically change the timeline of the coronavirus pandemic.

People wearing face masks in Wuhan, China. Picture: AFP

China originally reported the first case of Covid-19 in December 2019, treating it as a case of an “unknown pneumonia”.

But later reports found that three researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology had taken ill in November, 2019.

Thus far China has not been forthcoming with specific data about early cases of the virus, and has largely stonewalled international investigations into the pandemic’s origins, however in March of last year China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian accused US soldiers competing in the Wuhan games of bringing the coronavirus with them.

Originally published as ‘Like a ghost town’: How early did China know about Covid-19?