Excerpted from CCTV News Client July 06, 2020 15:46

The British "Daily Telegraph" reported on the 5th that experts from Oxford University believe that the new crown virus may not have originated in China.

British "Daily Telegraph" reported on the 5th: Oxford University experts believe that the new crown virus may not have originated in China

Dr Tom Jefferson, Senior Associate Tutor at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) at Oxford University, believes that there is growing evidence that the new coronavirus appeared elsewhere before it appeared in Asia. The Oxford University study also concluded that the new coronavirus may be "hiding" around the world and activated in certain circumstances, rather than originating in China.

Spanish virologists announced the detection of the new coronavirus in wastewater samples collected in March 2019. The Italian National Institute of Higher Health released a report on its official website stating that the genetic material of the new coronavirus was detected in wastewater samples from the northern Italian cities of Milan and Turin in December 2019. Brazil's sewers in November also found traces of the new coronavirus.

Dr. Jefferson believes that the new coronavirus already exists in multiple places, is dormant on a global scale, and may be activated by certain environmental conditions.

Dr. Jefferson pointed out that it is important to study how viruses originate and mutate. He believes that the new coronavirus is not only transmitted through droplets, but also through facilities such as sewage systems or public toilets. There is now a lot of evidence that the virus exists in sewage everywhere, and there is the possibility of fecal transmission.

Dr. Jefferson said outbreaks in meatpacking plants did not fit the theory of respiratory transmission and were likely because infected people didn't wash their hands properly. The locations of these outbreaks need to be investigated one by one, and research in this area is currently insufficient. Researchers are taking environmental samples for liveness testing.

Writing in The Telegraph, Dr Jefferson and CEBM director Prof Carl Hennigan called for an in-depth investigation into why the outbreaks are so frequent in food and meat processing plants. They believe that public toilet facilities and a cool environment may be conducive to the breeding of viruses, and investigations may be able to discover new ways of virus transmission.