The first case of Covid-19 identified in Wuhan, China, and presented as such by the World Health Organisation, was actually days later than previously believed and at an animal market, a top scientist said in a report published on Thursday.
Rather than the original patient being a man who had never been to the Wuhan market where wild and domestic animals were sold, the first known case of Covid-19 turns out to have been a woman who had worked in the market, virologist Michael Worobey wrote in the journal Science.
For Mr Worobey, that key piece of information, and his analysis of other early cases of Covid-19 in the city, clearly tip the scales towards the virus having originated in an animal.
With no definitive evidence, debate has raged among experts since the start of the pandemic almost two years ago over the origin of the virus.
Mr Worobey was one of the 15 or so experts who in mid-May published a column in Science demanding serious consideration of the thesis that the virus had leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan.
In this latest article, he argues his research into the origin of the outbreak "provides strong evidence of a live-animal market origin of the pandemic".
One criticism of the market theory was that because health authorities raised the alert about cases of a suspicious disease linked to the market as early as December 30, 2019, that would have introduced a bias that led to the identification of more cases there than elsewhere, since attention had already been drawn to it.
To counter that argument, Mr Worobey analysed cases reported by two hospitals before the alert was raised.
Those cases were also largely linked to the market, and those which were not were nevertheless geographically concentrated around it.
"In this city of 11 million people, half of the early cases are linked to a place that's the size of a soccer field," Mr Worobey told the New York Times.
"It becomes very difficult to explain that pattern if the outbreak didn't start at the market."
Another criticism of the theory was based on the fact the first case identified was unrelated to the market.
But while the WHO report claimed the man originally identified as patient zero had been ill from December 8, he actually was not sick until December 16, according to Mr Worobey.
That deduction was based on a video interview he found, from a case described in a scientific article and from a hospital medical record that matched the 41-year-old man.
That would mean the first reported case would be the woman who worked in the market, who fell ill on December 11.
Peter Daszak, a disease expert who was on the WHO investigation team, said he was convinced by Mr Worobey's analysis.
"That December 8 date was a mistake," he told the Times.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
The biog
Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology
Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India
Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur
How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993
Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters
Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo
LIVING IN...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Ready Player One
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