The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ordered the destruction of COVID-19 samples, according to an order dated January 3, 2020, obtained by U.S. Right to Know (USRTK).
The order obtained by USRTK repeatedly advised the collection of materials and samples related to pneumonia in Wuhan, China. Pneumonia can be a result of a COVID-19 infection. Pneumonia was treated as a higher level threat and was considered according to “highly pathogenic … microorganisms” protocol. Institutions subject to the order before the announcement were directed to “immediately destroy the samples on the spot or send them to storage institutions designated by the state,” according the report.
“Early viral sequences are key to piecing together the family tree of SARS-CoV-2 and unraveling how the pandemic began, but because of early and ongoing data censorship and destruction, much of the crucial information remains out of reach,” the USRTK report said.
We obtained the classified notice that the Chinese government sent to labs ordering them to turn over viral samples or destroy them on the spot in the name of “biosafety.”
The destruction of some of the earliest viral samples has reportedly clouded the U.S. intelligence… pic.twitter.com/JR0Fjr7Xkt
— Emily Kopp (@emilyakopp) June 27, 2023
Opinions that were not “scientifically verified and reviewed” were reportedly forbidden from being disseminated to the general public. “No institution or individual may release any relevant information to the outside world without authorization,” the order reads, according to USRTK.
Punishment for failure to follow the restrictions was not specifically stated, but the order outlined that the issuing committee would “strengthen law enforcement inspections” and “severely deal with” violating parties, according to USRTK.
Pandemic-related policies, including the origins of the COVID, are the subject of several investigations by the House Oversight Committee. U.S. health officials allegedly propagated disinformation, including through the Proximal Origins paper which attempted to discredit the lab leak theory, according to a memo by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. (RELATED: ‘The State Department Has Done Almost Nothing’: Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman Rips Biden Admin On COVID Origins)
In 2023, after the pandemic had ended, the WHO confronted China for lying about COVID-19, its effects, and its origins, saying the WHO will “continue to closely monitor the situation in the People’s Republic of China.” Without reliable preliminary data, experts were hamstrung from establishing human-to-human transmission of COVID-19.