The suggestion on the BBC today that the research lab in Wuhan may have been investigating the coronavirus strain and some of the staff caught it without realising and went out into the community and accidentally spread it is, to me, a plausible theory as to where the virus originated and how it spread. If that was the case you can understand why the Chinese authorities would want to save face by denying it, as well as avoiding any possible claims for compensation. History has many examples of where significant things have occurred due to simple human error, and this could well be another. By comparison, the actions or inactions of the British government (along with most of the other governments in the democratic world) when faced with an unprecedented situation and no clear medical guidance, pales into insignificance, although that is obviously no relief to those who lost loved ones as a result of the virus.
Richard Greenhough ● 1977d