Kwok-Yung Yuen

A doctor who diagnosed early coronavirus cases in China has stated he believes local officials covered up the scale of the initial outbreak.

Professor Kwok-Yung Yuen, who helped to investigate in Wuhan, says physical evidence was destroyed and the response to clinical findings was slow.

"When we went to the Huanan supermarket, of course, there was nothing to see because the market was clean already. So, you may say that the crime scene is already disturbed because the supermarket was cleared we cannot identify any host which is giving the virus to humans," said Professor Yuen.

"I do suspect that they have been doing some cover-up locally at Wuhan. The local officials who are supposed to immediately relay the information has not allowed this to be done as readily as it should," he added.

China has been criticised for its initial response to the outbreak, and for penalising a doctor who tried to warn colleagues about the virus in late December. In response, China has repeatedly lied and denied accusations that it withheld information about the severity of its outbreak. Furthermore, China has never allowed Western experts to conduct their own local investigations.