DEADLY MEAT MARKET
Where is Wuhan and did coronavirus start in the Chinese city?
FEARING a second coronavirus wave, China's Wuhan - the world's original Covid-19 epicentre - has ramped up testing.
Spooks claim Chinese leaders "intentionally concealed the severity" of the illness from the world so it could stock up on medical supplies.
A bombshell dossier - which has been circulated by governments in the West - even alleges the secretive nation refused to provide live samples to international scientists working day and night to find a vaccine.
Where is Wuhan in China?
Wuhan, in Eastern China, is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China.
It is the largest city in Hubei and is the most heavily populated city in Central China with a population of 11 million.
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It is considered as the political, economic, financial, commercial, cultural and education centre of Central China.
The city is a major transportation hub, bustling with railways, roads and expressways connecting it to other cities.
What is Huanan Seafood Market and did coronavirus start there?
At the centre of the outbreak is the Huanan Seafood Market - although as yet, scientists don't really know if that's where it started.
Live koalas, wolf pups, crocodiles, peacocks, rats and snakes were sold there.
Wet markets traditionally sell fresh produce and live animals, such as fish and exotic animals, which are butchered in the open air.
They tend to be popular with shoppers who believe the items on sale are cheaper and fresher than in supermarkets.
But they're poorly regulated.
The SARS outbreak in 2003 also started in a wet market.
Chinese officials have now banned meat trade in wet markets like Huanan, which was shut down on January 1.
The Wildlife Conservation Society said: "Poorly regulated, live animal markets mixed with illegal wildlife trade offer a unique opportunity for viruses to spill over from wildlife hosts into the human population."
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However, there's not yet any conclusive proof that it's where the virus took hold.
That's despite the revelation that photos of scientists handling bat samples have been deleted from the website of the Wuhan Institute of Virology after diplomats and scientists raised the alarm about safety.
And in May, a landmark scientific study said the deadly bug may not have come from Wuhan’s wild animal market.
Biologists Yujia Alina Chan and Benjamin Deverman from the Broad Institute carried out the new research alongside Shing Hei Zhan from the University of British Columbia.
The scientists concluded "the publicly available genetic data does not point to cross-species transmission of the virus at the market."
But, they added: "The possibility that a non-genetically engineered precursor could have adapted to humans while being studied in a laboratory should be considered."
When were Wuhan's lockdown restrictions eased?
In early April, Wuhan's strictly-enforced, months-long lockdown was lifted
Officials had sealed off the central city of 11 million people on January 23, when the killer bug began spiralling out of control.
It stopped the movement of Wuhan's residents with all public transport, including buses, railways, flights, and ferry services suspended for more than two months.
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However, authorities in Wuhan have tested more than three million residents for the coronavirus in April and May and aim to test all of the rest - eight million more - says state media.
Some experts say the mass testing is unprecedented in scale, and shows the level of concern about a second wave.
Others say the sheer size of the operation is bound to lead to errors.
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