"When they realized what happened, Chinese Communist Party officials and scientists at the WIV began frantically covering up the leak," announced Republican Rep. Michael McCaul. "But their cover up was too late — the virus was already spreading throughout the megacity of Wuhan."
McCaul went on: "Within a month, satellite images show a significant uptick in the number of people at hospitals around the WIV with symptoms similar to COVID-19. At the same time, athletes at the Military World Games became sick with symptoms similar to COVID-19. Some of them carried the virus back to their home countries — creating one of the earliest super spreader events in the world, and explaining how countries who participated in the games had reported cases as early as November 2019.”
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The new report explained that its lab leak evidence involved “athletes at the Military World Games held in Wuhan in October 2019 who became sick with symptoms similar to COVID-19 both while in Wuhan and also shortly after.”
The GOP report zeroed in on Wuhan, which was chosen to host the 7th International Military Sports Council Military World Games in October 2019, throughout which “more than 9,000 military personnel from over 100 countries stayed in Wuhan in accommodations at an athletes village built specifically for the games.”
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The Chinese state-run China Internet Information Center announced in October 2019 there were athletes from 109 different nations. China’s Organizing Committee of the 7th International Military Sports Council proclaimed that “the charm of sports will put Wuhan in the global spotlight.”
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The GOP report noted a since-deleted version of the competition’s website listed over 30 venues for the games across Wuhan. One athlete from Luxembourg called Wuhan a “ghost town” and remembered having his temperature taken upon landing at the city’s airport, stating, “There were rumors that the government warned the inhabitants not to go out.” The report said, "Similar claims about COVID-19 like symptoms have been made by athletes from Germany, France, Italy, and Sweden.”
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A military athlete from Canada explained that on the flight back to Canada, dozens of athletes “were sick with symptoms ranging from coughs to diarrhea.” A German athlete said, “After a few days, some athletes from my team got ill … I got sick in the last two days … Either it was a very bad cold or COVID-19. I think it was COVID-19.”
An Italian athlete said all the athletes in his Wuhan apartment fell ill with “symptoms that looked like those of COVID-19.”