After Zhong Nanshan, a high-profile doctor in China, suggested on February 27, 2020, that the Coronavirus could have originated from outside of China, another high-profile doctor, Zhang Wenhong, disagreed with that idea.
Zhang Wenhong is the Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Huashan Hospital, at Fudan University, Shanghai. He was tasked with leading the medical expert team to fight the novel coronavirus in Shanghai. Many Shanghainese call him, “Daddy Zhang” for his outspokenness and the care he has for people.
On February 28, 2020, China Daily, a state-controlled newspaper that publishes both Chinese and English versions, interviewed Zhang. In the interview, when responding to a question regarding claims that the virus was imported from elsewhere, Zhang said that he believed the virus originated in Wuhan. Zhang argued, “If that was the case (that the virus was imported), we should have seen patients emerging from different regions in the country around the same time rather than seeing their concentration in Wuhan.”
Sina republished the article from China Daily, which contains the Chinese following the English translation.
However, most of the Chinese media that reported Zhang’s disagreement saw that his comments were taken down afterwards.
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1. Excerpt in Chinese:
新冠病毒最早从外国传入？张文宏的判断也是No。
他认为，中国只有武汉最先出现了这个新传染病，如果是外面传到中国来，应该是几个中国城市同时发病，而不是有时间先后。他更觉得新冠和流感不会混淆，“新冠在CT上有非常特征性的表现，所以我认为很容易可以区分。”
In response to some claims that the virus was imported from elsewhere， Zhang said he believes it originated in Wuhan。
“If that was the case， we should have seen patients emerging from different regions in the country around the same time rather than their concentration in Wuhan，” Zhang said。 “Moreover， influenza could be easily differentiated from the coronavirus infection through CT scan。”
Source: Sina, February 28, 2020
https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2020-02-28/doc-iimxxstf5125462.shtml
2. Excerpt in Chinese:
上海市新冠肺炎临床救治专家组组长、复旦大学华山医院感染科主任张文宏，不认同新冠病毒来自外国的说法。他说，如果是外面传到中国来，应该是几个中国城市同时发病。对于“零号病人”，张文宏表示他只认证据。而两家在28日刊出对张文宏采访的官媒网站，今天都看不到了这个采访内容。在网易和谷歌还可搜到…
对于武汉新冠病毒来自国外的说法，张文宏回答中国日报说，中国只有武汉最先出现了这个新传染病，如果是外面传到中国来，应该是几个中国城市同时发病，而不是有时间先后。他还觉得新冠和流感不会混淆。他说“新冠在CT上有非常特征性的表现，所以我认为很容易可以区分。”
我认为随意的猜测是不负责任的，做科普不是这么做的。科普有两种，一种是把真的事情告诉你，另外一种故弄虚玄把你带到沟里面去。所以我个人觉得将来在这方面应该是中国一些极具权威的、大家信得过的一些科研机构，把这个事情给说清楚，我觉得这个是非常关键的，而不是任由这种随意的信息在传播。
否则我作为普通的民众，也会给我造成很多困扰，是不是有什么事情隐瞒着我？关于“零号病人”，到今天为止我不信任何人说的，我只认证据，只认我们自己做出来基因测序的结果。
张文宏的上述判断与钟南山的说法不同。中国卫健委专家钟南山2月27日在广州市官方记者会上表示，“现在国外出现一些情况，疫情首先出现在中国，不一定是发源在中国。”
Source: Radio France International, February 29, 2020
http://www.rfi.fr/cn/中国/20200229-传染病专家张文宏不认同新冠病毒来自国外