Editors' Note: In December 2019, people in Wuhan were found to be infected by a novel coronavirus that may cause severe acute respiratory disease. Some of the early patients visited the Huanan Wild Animal and Seafood Market. Doctors in Wuhan warned their family and friends about the disease, but they were reprimanded and even arrested. The best-known doctor among them is the late Dr. Li Wenliang, who was arrested for warning others and later died of the virus. Some official doctors tried to report it to the central government but were warned by their supervisors to be “cautious in reporting.” Fearing punishment, they did not report. Evidence shows that the central government learned of it in early January, but it decided to keep the information from the public.
On February 27, Zhong Nanshan, the prominent Chinese infectious disease expert with the highest political position in the Chinese government, questioned the common knowledge that the virus originated in Wuhan: "The infection was first spotted in China but the virus may not have originated in China." Soon after, a senior Chinese official, Zhao Lijian, claimed on Twitter (which is banned by the Chinese government in China): "It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan."