‘Something to hide’: China ‘silenced’ medics at beginning of COVID-19 outbreak

New footage suggests China covered up key information at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a Coalition MP is calling for action.

Nationals backbencher Matt Canavan has accused Beijing of having “something to hide” after Chinese medics admitted they knew how dangerous COVID-19 was but were silenced by the government.

British network ITV has secretly filmed senior medics who witnessed some of the first cases in Wuhan and claimed they knew the virus could be transmitted from human to human but were told not to speak out.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) claimed on January 14 there was evidence of “limited” transmission between humans.

Chinese medics were filmed claiming they knew COVID-19 could be transmitted from human to human in December but were silenced by Beijing. Picture: Hector Retamal / AFP

China has been accused of covering up crucial information that could have slowed the spread of COVID-19. Picture: Lintao Zhang / Getty Images

But the medics – speaking on ITV’s Outbreak: The Virus That Shook The World – claimed there was no doubt the deadly virus could be passed between people in December.

Coalition Senator Matt Canavan said the revelations vindicated the government’s demand for transparency from Beijing.

“That’s why the federal government’s always been consistent in calling for a proper, transparent inquiry (on the origins of COVID-19),” he told Today.

“The question has to be asked: If China has nothing to hide here, why they are going to these sort of lengths to hide things?”

A WHO investigation team is in Wuhan but was initially barred from entering, with Beijing citing visa issues.

Matt Canavan has accused China of having ‘something to hide’. Picture: Sean Davey

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack last week insisted the probe would “get the answers it needs” despite fears China would attempt to railroad the probe.

Mr Canavan has accused Beijing of dragging its feet more than a year after the first cases were detected.

“We have really no more information about where this came from, what happened in Wuhan, and the international investigators themselves have been denied access to Wuhan,” he said.

“You do have to wonder, the more people try to hide something, the more it probably is they have something to hide.”

Australia angered Beijing by leading an international push for the investigation, but Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he did not regret calling for answers.

“Australia is honest in our dealings, and we honestly want to know how this started. That’s all it’s about. I think Australians want to know,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

Scott Morrison says Australia has ‘been honest in its dealings’ and wants answers on the origin of COVID-19. Picture: Lukas Coch/ AAP Image

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying claims China was the ‘first to sound the alarm for the world’. Picture: Ng Han Guan / AP Photo

“You would expect a forthright Australian government, that is just interested in understanding the truth of what has occurred, to be open about that.

“I mean, why would you not want to know, and why would you be embarrassed about asking?”

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said China was the “first to sound the alarm for the world”, claiming “resolute decisions” made by Beijing had stopped the spread of the virus.

“It took only one week to isolate the novel coronavirus after detecting the outbreak, possibly the shortest time on record for mankind to get to know a new infectious disease,” she said on Tuesday.

“In just a few days’ time, the pathogen was isolated and testing regime (was) developed for clinical diagnosis.

“It took a little over three weeks from the detection of the outbreak to the lockdown of Wuhan, when there were only around 500 cases reported.”