Western troops fell ill in Wuhan MONTHS before Covid outbreak officially began fuelling lab leak suspicions

WESTERN troops allegedly fell ill with a mystery illness after attending the World Military Games in Wuhan shortly before the Covid outbreak officially began.

A long-serving Canadian officer was among scores of athletes who fell sick while attending the games in the pandemic ground zero city in China — fuelling theories the virus leaked from a nearby lab.

The whistleblowing Canadian, who could not be named because he was still in the forces, told the Mail on Sunday foreign competitors found the usually bustling city of 11 million people “like a ghost town” when they visited in October. 

But the Chinese Communist regime claimed the first confirmed case was not until December.

It was reportedly claimed the Canadian team were so badly affected with the mystery illness a quarantine section was set up on their military flight back home.

The officer said a military-appointed doctor later said he almost certainly caught Covid and is now demanding an investigation.

He told the Mail: “I'm 100 per cent convinced the virus was present in Wuhan when we were there.

“The burden of proof is on the scientific community and intelligence experts to prove – not for athletes."

He continued “I accept I am not a scientist and it might not be Covid, but why does everyone seem so reluctant to investigate properly?

“It feels like we were present at Ground Zero of this pandemic that has had such an impact on everyone's life, with millions of deaths and economies shut down, so why not carry out due diligence. Are the facts just too big to handle?”

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The officer’s claims have added to widespread concerns the Chinese government covered up the outbreak — meaning the world had little time to react and stop it from spreading across the globe. 

At least 5.5million people have globally perished during the pandemic, with deaths in the UK yesterday reaching the grim milestone of 150,000. 

The Communist regime in Beijing said the first confirmed case was December 8, three weeks before the World Health Organisation (WHO) was tipped off by sources in Taiwan.

COMMUNIST REGIME REFUSED TO COOPERATE

China has continued to refuse to cooperate with a full-scale probe into the source of the deadly virus.

But evidence of a lab leak has been piling up over the last year as scientists, researchers and governments hunt for answers.

Dozens of scientists have suggested Covid could have escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China through an infected researcher, improper disposal of waste, or potential breaches in the security at the site.

The high-security facility specialising in coronaviruses has been in the eye of the storm as questions rage over whether Covid could have escaped from its lab.

One bombshell book said the virus appeared to have been "tailor-made for carnage" and may have escaped from the lab after a scientist was bitten by an infected monkey.

Both China and the lab have furiously denied any allegations — but top former intelligence bosses said the evidence of a lab "accident" was clear to see and there has been a calculated cover-up "from day one".