Zhong Nanshan, a high-profile doctor, the head of the High-level Expert Group of the National Health Commission, and an Academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that, though the Coronavirus epidemic started in China, it may not have originated in China.
Zhong made the statement at a press conference in Guangzhou on February 27, 2020.
Some Chinese netizens challenged Zhong’s logic. One questioned whether he had become the spokesperson for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
At the conference, Zhong also defended the official infection count. When a reporter mentioned a foreign estimate that there were 160,000 infections, Zhong said that China’s estimate of 70,000 infection cases was more accurate. The CCP has reported that there are 78,497 confirmed cases so far.
The authorities arranged for Zhong to go to Wuhan on January 20, 2020, to announce that the coronavirus could transmit from person to person. Afterwards, he predicted a few dates in February when the epidemic would slow down. This turned out to be too optimistic.
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Excerpt in Chinese:
钟南山对冠状病毒从哪里来也做出了新的推测，疫情到底是怎么来，目前还是不清楚，是否早已存在也不知道，他认为中间宿主应该不只有穿山甲一种。指出，疫情首先出现在中国，但不一定是发源在中国。
对于钟南山所言病毒或许并不起源于中国的说法，有网友质疑帅锅的逻辑性，指出，在中国最先被发现 然后传到了国外才使得国外也出现了。有网友说，钟南山称，说疫情首先出现在中国，但不一定发源在中国。 这锅甩得艺术，与昨天环球的那篇，说现在国外新增数字比中国要多，让人造成一种错觉，疫情从开始出现到现在，国外比中国危险多了，甚至有可能是来自外部源头的病毒引入中国。
甚至有网友质疑钟南山成了中共的代言人。问道，从疫情开始他除了“确定人传人”外还实现过什么他这个身份应该干的事吗？
钟南山说，中国增加病例已经少于国外增加病例，韩国、伊朗、意大利，他们增加非常快，可能中国做法对他们有一些启发。“我应邀这周末为欧洲呼吸学会介绍中国经验。这是人类的病，不是中国的病。”
有记者问，为何外国预测16万人感染，中国预测仅7万人？
钟南山指出，外国模型没有考虑“国家强力干预”，以及春节后的延迟复工等变数；中方预测模型显示，2月中旬或下旬达到疫情高峰，确诊病例约6至7万人。7万人的预测曾投稿国外权威期刊，但被退了，原因可能是和16万人的预测差太多；钟南山认为，但事实上，中方预测更接近权威（事实）。
Source: Radio France International, February 27, 2020
http://www.rfi.fr/cn/中国/20200227-钟南山称新冠肺炎不一定发源在中国-疫情四月底可控-网友如何看