Wuhan doctors admit China lied to world about Covid so millions could celebrate New Year

CHINA lied to the world about the Covid outbreak so millions could celebrate New Year, Wuhan doctors have alleged.

The medics from the outbreak epicenter city have been captured on film admitting they were silenced in December 2019.

⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates

The country’s rulers are accused of gagging medics who tried to warn of the dangers weeks before the virus exploded across the globe.

A bombshell new ITV documentary reveals Covid was spreading like wildfire for 12 days from January 5 but the Chinese government reported no new cases.

'Outbreak: The Virus That Shook The World' outlines a cover-up by the Chinese government authorities from the start of the outbreak including how the Lunar New Year celebrations were allowed to go ahead.

One of the medics said he feared it would become a mass super-spreading event once it was clear the virus could be transmitted between humans.

He is filmed saying ";they shouldn’t have allowed any gatherings" but says "we were told not to speak out".

"The provincial and local governments knew the threat but they continued to allow crowds," says the doctor.

"People suggested at city level that it shouldn’t go ahead, but it did because such an event would present a harmonious and prosperous society."

The medical professionals were filmed speaking to a citizen journalist after Wuhan was released from lockdown

Leaks of Chinese official data show the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in Wuhan can be traced back to November 17, 2019.

But according to the Chinese government, there were no deaths until January 9, 2020.

China went on to suggest the virus originated elsewhere — and that it had beaten the disease.

But a senior medic claimed in the soon-to-be-release documentary: "There were deaths every day in the early days."

“We all felt there shouldn’t be any doubt about human-to-human transmission.”

Infectious diseases specialist Dr Yi-Chun Lo, of ­Taiwan’s Centres for Disease Control, said: “I think the pandemic could have been avoided at the beginning if China was transparent about the outbreak and was quick to provide necessary information to the world.”

ITV’s undercover footage emerged after US intelligence insiders claimed a botched Chinese lab experiment was the pandemic’s “most credible source”.

The US State Department claimed the Wuhan Institute of Virology (W.I.V) had been conducting experiments with a virus genetically similar to the new coronavirus before the pandemic erupted.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated lab staff in Wuhan first fell ill after secret tests on coronaviruses found in bats 13 months ago.

The lab was said to have been experimenting “under conditions that increased the risk for exposure”.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith insisted: “I want a full investigation.”

Last year, The Sun revealed how the W.I.V. lied about taking safety precautions when collecting bat samples.

Shocking leaked photos - which revealed a scandalous lack of safety - were deleted from the website of under-fire China science hub.

In the wake of claims, cables were sent to the US State Department from the embassy warning about the risks of experiments on bats.

One read: "During interactions with scientists at the WIV laboratory, they noted the new lab has a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory." 

The US State Department says the Chinese Communist Party has prevented investigators from interviewing researchers in Wuhan "including those who were ill in the fall [autumn] of 2019."

"Beijing continues today to withhold vital information that scientists need to protect the world from this deadly virus and the next one," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added on Saturday.

GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk