Hong Kong University dismisses claims of outbreak cover-up

Hong Kong’s top university has dismissed as hearsay and distanced itself from allegations by a virologist it formerly employed that Beijing covered up the coronavirus outbreak in December, writes Danny Mok for the South China Morning Post.

Yan Limeng, who was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Hong Kong’s school of public health, had also told a Fox News interview that Hong Kong University (HKU) had failed to act on her findings that the virus could spread among humans. The virologist said she had uncovered evidence that the Chinese authorities were aware of human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus in late December, which she said she then passed to her superiors at the university but was asked to keep quiet.

In a statement on 11 July, HKU confirmed that Yan was a post-doctoral fellow who had left the university. “HKU notes that the content of the said news report does not accord with the key facts as we understand them,” it read. “We further observe that what she might have emphasised in the reported interview has no scientific basis but resembles hearsay.” HKU also clarified that Yan had not conducted any research on that topic at the university from December to January.
Full report on the South China Morning Post site