Since 2003 and the Sars crisis (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology have been tracking coronaviruses in animals, particularly bats, capable of spreading them. At the same time, Chinese authorities are building a surveillance system to trace any suspicious infections.
Despite this sanitary “wall” put in place by China, the surveillance system fails: many doctors are unaware of reporting protocols, allowing the virus to circulate quietly. Meanwhile, the highly profitable trade in wild animals continues to thrive despite clear identification of transmission risks. It is the Huanan market in Wuhan that serves as a biological catalyst. The initial warning signals from December 2019 are stifled by Wuhan authorities, who reprimand the doctors sounding the alarm. This initial silence leads to a crucial one-month delay before the official admission of human-to-human transmission.
The global spread of the virus panics nations
The international spread is fueled by the massive Chinese New Year migration, making Wuhan an ideal hub for the virus. The pathogen is exported to Asia as early as January 8, 2020, then to the West with the first cases detected in the United States and France at the end of January. The real turning point occurs in Italy on February 20, revealing a massive invisible circulation facilitated by asymptomatic cases.
Faced with alarming projections predicting “a collapse of healthcare systems,” nations transition to radical crisis management: by the end of March 2020, nearly 3.26 billion people are confined. A race ensues for the development of vaccines, marked by geopolitical tensions and dirty tricks among allies for access to stocks.
The advent of the information war
The health crisis is compounded by an “infodemic,” a saturation of contradictory facts and rumors eroding public trust. The initial uncertainty of experts and journalists leaves a void filled with competing narratives. Information quickly becomes a weapon used by nations in destabilization attempts, with social networks playing a major amplifying role, spreading conspiracy theories and unverified information, both on the origins of the pandemic and the existence of scientifically unfounded “miracle cures.”
Five years later, the official death toll exceeds 7 million, and it is necessary to look at how this story was constructed to understand this global conflagration.
– William Audureau, “Histoire mondiale du Covid”, éditions Allary, March 2026.
