‘Bombshell’ report: Officials covered up sick athletes at Wuhan Military Games
The Washington Free Beacon provides evidence officials world-wide refused to investigate possible early cases of Covid at a possible “super-spreader” event.
Key take-away from today’s dispatch:
Evidence continues to emerge that public health and government officials likely engaged in a wide-ranging conspiracy to conceal evidence of early spread of the coronavirus.
As regular readers of this newsletter are aware, I’ve developed copious and, I believe, undeniable evidence that large numbers of citizens were already infected with the novel coronavirus months before the “Wuhan outbreak.”
Furthermore, for dozens of reasons (see 28 reasons cited in this article), I believe officials have intentionally concealed this evidence from the public. The evidence is even more overwhelming that officials could and should be charged with professional malfeasance for refusing to thoroughly investigate this copious evidence.
Today’s dispatch supports or reinforces the above conclusions.
In today’s dispatch, I present evidence that numerous visitors to the Military World Games (MWG) in Wuhan, China developed Covid-19 symptoms in October 2019 - evidence that has NOT been investigated by pubic health or military officials anywhere in the world.
A key, rarely-discussed question is why officials would not be interested in investigating compelling evidence of early spread. Why do public health officials continue to insist Covid’s “Case Zero” occurred in December 2019 when overwhelming evidence exists this is clearly not true?
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By BILL RICE, JR.
Officials in the Biden administration concealed “bombshell” evidence that strongly suggests the novel coronavirus could have been infecting athletes and staffers who attended the 2019 Military World Games in Wuhan, China in October 2019, according to an exclusive story published by The Washington Free Beacon on April 8th.
The article discloses that seven members of the U.S. delegation who attended the Games developed Covid-like symptoms while at the Games or shortly after the Games. (Editorial comment: FWIW, I’m skeptical of the claim that just “seven” members of the approximate 280-person U.S. delegation developed Covid-like symptoms).
In my opinion, a more significant disclosure is the belated revelation that (apparently) not one of the 10,000 visitors to these games was ever tested for Covid antibodies by public health officials.
That is, U.S. public health and military officials were not interested in investigating the possibility virus spread could have commenced at least two months before the world’s first “official” Covid patient was identified by Chinese officials on December 8, 2019 (other reports identified the first known Covid patient as being identified November 17, 2019).
(Note: emphasis added throughout by Bill Rice, Jr).
From a Department of Defense report that was supposed to be provided to Congress by the summer of 2022 (but wasn’t disclosed to the public until last month), readers learn:
“DoD has not conducted or opened an investigation into connections between the outbreak of COVID-19 and the 2019 World Military Games.”
Also:
“… DoD has not engaged in any discussions with allied or partner militaries about illness associated with participation in the 2019 World Military Games.”
Rutgers University professor of chemical biology Richard Ebright told The Free Beacon:
“It is an outrage that the Biden White House and the 118th Congress Senate and House Armed Services Committees did not publicly release this information when it became available in 2022, but, instead, withheld this information for the duration of their terms.”
Senator Joni Earnst (R, Iowa) told The Free Beacon:
“Taxpayers deserve to know the truth about COVID-19 origins, but the Biden administration concealed this information from the American people for years.”
"This report should have been made public immediately and not restricted to Washington insiders. If Americans visiting Wuhan were potentially infected with the COVID-19 virus in October 2019, those claiming the pandemic began in a wet market just two months later would be completely off base.”
Note: In this dispatch, I cite or reference interviews published by The Daily Mail, The Mirror, The American Prospect, Inside the Games, French TV stations including BFMTV, The Canadian National Post, an opinion columnist for The Washington Post, Rebel News and other sources. (See links to sources at end of article).
Based on published journalism, the evidence that many participants/visitors to the Military World Games became sick with symptoms similar or identical to Covid-19 seems to be overwhelming and undeniable.
According to The American Prospect, “scores” of athletes from “many nations” became sick while at the games or shortly after leaving Wuhan.
Note: Based on quotes and information included in this dispatch, I believe the number of athletes and visitors who became sick while at these games, or shortly after leaving Wuhan, might number in the “hundreds.”
According to published reports, athletes or visitors who may have become sick with “early Covid” included members of World Military Games’ delegations from America, Canada, Germany, Italy, France, Sweden, Luxembourg, Iran as well as the delegations of several other nations.
According to the UK Mirror, “numerous French athletes … returned from the World Military Games with a mystery illness.”
French TV channel BFMTV reported that “a number of French athletes .. described coming down with severe flu-like symptoms … including fevers and body aches … or unusual symptoms.”
On March 25th, 2020, Elodie Clouvel, a world champion modern pentathlete, was asked whether she was anxious about spending the summer (of 2020) in Japan for the Olympics.
“ ‘No,” she replied, ‘because I think that with Velentin (Belaud, her partner, also a pentathlete) we have already had the coronavirus, well the COVID-19.’ “
“… And afterwards, we all fell ill. Valentin missed three days of training. Me, I was sick too. I had things I had never had before …”
She added: "A lot of athletes at the World Military Games were very ill. We were recently in touch with a military doctor who told us: 'I think you had it because a lot of people from this delegation were ill.’”
French news channel BFMTV reported that “none of the returning athletes were tested and the French Army … reportedly confirmed they had not wanted to test any athletes …”
BFMTV quotes one athlete, who preferred to remain anonymous, as saying that he originally thought he had simply caught a cold.
(Bill Rice, Jr. comment: The fact an athlete would feel the need to remain anonymous while simply confirming he was sick is very interesting to me. As noted below, two members of the Canadian MWG delegation also became “whistleblowers” but felt the need to remain anonymous when disclosing what they knew.)
According to one French report, “when news began to emerge of an epidemic in Wuhan, many athletes on a WhatsApp group reportedly began to openly wonder if it was possible they’d contracted the disease too.”
“Local media report that since (Clouvel) spoke up on March 25, many athletes have been asked not to answer questions from journalists and to refer media enquiries to the head of communication of the French armies.”
“French media report that sick athletes were also noted in some other delegations, including the Swedish delegation, with people returning to Sweden with strong fevers.”
“Renowned Italian fencer Matteo Tagliariol told Corriere della Sera newspaper that he fell ill almost immediately after his return from Wuhan:
“Tagliariol said everyone in his Wuhan apartment fell ill with ‘symptoms that looked like those of Covid-19’, which later spread to the 37-year-old’s son and girlfriend.
“When we arrived in Wuhan we almost all got sick,” said Tagliariol. “But the worst was the return home. After a week I had a very high fever, I felt that I wasn’t breathing. The sickness didn’t even go away with antibiotics, I recovered after three weeks and remained debilitated for a long time. Then my son and my partner got sick. When they started talking about the virus, I said to myself: I got it too.”
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Jacqueline Bock, part of the German volleyball team, told The Mail on Sunday how she and her colleagues contracted something similar to Covid-19 at the event in the city.
“ ‘After a few days, some athletes from my team got ill,’ she said. I got sick in the last two days,’ she said, adding that her father also became ill a few weeks after her return.
“I have never felt so sick,’ she said. “Either it was a very bad cold or Covid-19. I think it was Covid-19.”
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Oliver Gorges, a triathlete from Luxembourg, said he also suffered flu-like symptoms.
In a Daily Mail article from May 2020, he described how Wuhan’s streets were “nearly empty” when he went for a cycle ride in the city.
“It was a ghost town,” he said. “There were rumors that the government warned the inhabitants not to go out.
“Gorges, 22, said he had his temperature recorded on arrival at the airport, while athletes were forced to wash their hands every time they entered the canteen and were ordered not to take food out of the premises.
‘It was strange,” he added.
Swedish pentathlete Melina Westerberg said that “many of her compatriots were sick at the Games …”
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Luxumbourg swimmer Julien Henx said that while he didn’t become ill, several of his roommates, including Pit Bandenburger, “fell ill, stayed in bed (and) didn't swim” … A doctor who examined them, “assumed flu.” After making this comment in one press report, Henx was “condemned by military and didn't speak to press after that.”
A video reporter for a German press outlet, Torsten Timm, reportedly “got ill while leaving Wuhan.” Timm Shared a room with six others and said a colleague had fallen ill a few days before he did. Timm’s recovery took two months.”
*** (Since this “bombshell” report wasn’t covered by the MSM, shares are greatly appreciated. Also, thanks to one of my subscribers who emailed me The Free Beacon article.) ***
Scores of possibly sick Canadian athletes …
Flu-like outbreaks also apparently spread through up to 60 members of the 178-person Canadian delegation, according to the Canadian Financial Post in reporting that dovetails a disturbing revelation first published by a reporter for Rebel News in two dispatches (read here … and here) in January 2021.
(See also this report from the website “42,” which repeats the claims made by journalists at The National Post and Rebel News.)
According to accounts published in The National Post, “two Canadian military sources, who asked for anonymity because they are currently serving in the Canadian Armed Forces, said the military bureaucracy ignored their symptoms and also suggested China was covering up an outbreak months before it admitted COVID existed ..
“One source said he got ‘very sick 12 days after we arrived, with fever, chills, vomiting, insomnia.… On our flight to come home (at the end of October), 60 Canadian athletes on the flight were put in isolation (at the back of the plane) for the 12-hour flight. We were sick with symptoms ranging from coughs to diarrhea and in between.’ “
After returning to Canada, the source said family members became ill and his symptoms worsened, including fatigue, nosebleeds, fever and pain when he breathed. He went to a military doctor. “I was tested for various issues, but never for anything respiratory,” he said. “A few weeks later, I offered to take an antibody test but was ignored.”
A second Canadian military source who spoke to The National Post said, “One-quarter of us got sick, there and when we returned. Some were bedridden for weeks. This made us potential vectors for the virus. The military did nothing. I was sick and others were, too, with Wuhan symptoms. … I was eventually given a swab test, which measures only recent exposure, and told to carry on.”
“How did they know?” asked the Canadian Forces officer. “I would have thought the intelligence or medical intelligence community would have tested and followed up on this, but this didn’t happen.”
The Post contacted the Surgeon General’s office where a spokesperson said, “We are not aware of any CAF members or civilians becoming sick at the Games or after they returned. There have not been any COVID-19 cases identified amongst this group.”
One of the sources described the Surgeon General’s letter to athletes who participated in the Games as a “slap in the face” and said government health agencies did “zero follow-up with any of us since.” He added that now it is too late for an antibody test to determine whether they had COVID or not at the time, because they have now been fully vaccinated.”
(Note: At least one source quoted in the article about the Canadian government’s possible cover-up of early WMG cases also said “many” Americans became sick, a characterization that would seem to exceed the “seven” cases later acknowledged by the Department of Defense. A story published by The National Prospect in June of 2020 also disputes the claim that no Americans, or a very small small number, became infected while in Wuhan).
A Washington Post columnist asks the same questions as myself …
In an opinion column published June 23, 2021, Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin highlighted many of the same questions posed in this dispatch as well as issues highlighted in The Free Beacon article.
“In October 2019, more than 9,000 international athletes from more than 100 countries traveled to Wuhan, China — and many of them later got sick with covid-19-like symptoms. But there has never been a real investigation into whether the virus that causes covid-19 was already spreading at the Wuhan Military World Games …”
“As the covid-19 pandemic took hold worldwide in early 2020, athletes from several countries — including France, Germany, Italy and Luxembourg — claimed publicly they had contracted what they believed to be covid-19 at the games in Wuhan, based on their symptoms and how their illnesses spread to their loved ones.”
“In Washington, military leaders either dismissed the idea out of hand or weren’t aware of it.”
“Meanwhile, no one performed any antibody testing or disease tracing on these thousands of athletes. “
“No one even attempted to find out whether the games in Wuhan was, in fact, the first international pandemic superspreader event.”
Mr. Rogin also included the following sentence, a point I’ve made in numerous Substack articles on early spread:
“Nailing down the timeline of the pandemic’s origin is a crucial task. The United States needs to do its best to figure it out … regardless of where the data leads.”
Military officials plead ignorance or refuse to comment …
As a journalist for The American Prospect pointed out:
“The potential COVID-19 illnesses from the American participants in the Wuhan World Military Games appear to have been a closely guarded secret of the Defense Department. “
“Former Biden Defense Department spokesman John Kirby told the Washington Post in June 2021 that the military had "no knowledge" of any COVID-19 infections among the troops that participated in those games.”
The first Trump administration issued similar statements regarding the Wuhan games. In June 2020, the Pentagon told the Prospect that it did not test any of the American troops that participated in the games because they were held "prior to the reported outbreak.”
“The Pentagon did not disclose when it discovered the potential illnesses. The Pentagon declined to comment.”
This might be the key quote (or point) from this article …
In an article published May 7, 2020, the UK Daily Mirror quoted a French professor who pointed out that testing visitors who became sick while at the MWG should have been a priority and would have been “fairly easy” to do.
“Professor Eric Caumes, an infectious and tropical disease specialist at the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris, said the theory that athletes participating in the World Military Games in Wuhan were contaminated with covid-19 is "completely plausible.”
"What the athletes who participated in these Military Games describe, it must obviously be scientifically confirmed,” said Professor Caumes.
“But it (“confirmation” or non-confirmation) will be fairly easy to do since there is now a serological test which allows a retrospective diagnosis of the disease.”
(Note: As I’ve previously reported, Covid antibody tests were being administered in China as early as January 2020).
“If these athletes test positive, it is very likely they caught the new coronavirus in Wuhan,” said Professor Caumes.
In Conclusion ….
IMO, it should be be considered a “blockbuster” revelation that no nation - including America, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, China, etc. - seems to have tested athletes for antibodies. Nor did American public health officials encourage their colleagues to do such testing.
For some reason(s), public health officials, who allegedly are “seeking the truth,” will not investigate that which they do not want to “confirm.”
To date, nobody knows for sure why this is a taboo area of inquiry, but one can easily conclude that concealing evidence of early spread has long been a priority of world leaders.
Addendum Info: America’s military team won only nine medals in Wuhan …
Some commenters on social media or the alternative press have noted that America, which had one of the largest delegations at the MWG, won only nine medals and didn’t win a gold medal until the final day of competition.
According to several reports, American ranked No. 35 in medals and had the same number of medals as nations like Slovenia, Norway and one less than Egypt.
For context, Russia, which has a similar-sized delegation, won 161 medals (compared to America’s nine). China, the host nation, was first in medals with 239. Ukraine won 33 medals.
The Department of Defense said America’s delegation numbered 263 total participants, including 173 athletes.
Other stories said America’s delegation included 188 athletes and 18 team captains and numbered approximately 275 or 283 Americans, including 15 “medical providers.”
According to one theory that’s been put forth in the alternative press, America’s surprisingly low medal haul could be explained by a large number of Americans who were sick while at these Games. However, the Department of Defense said only seven of America’s athletes/staffers were ill while at the games or shortly after returning.
As noted above, I’m skeptical the number of Americans who became sick while in Wuhan (or shortly after returning) is only seven people.
On deck:
Part 2 will include my views on why evidence of early spread is potentially thermo-nuclear, highlight a few “early cases” and ILI “outbreaks” that were ignored by public health officials, further develop the important point that antibody levels subside over time, discuss what “earlier” spread in Wuhan might mean, and provide evidence (from my own life) that the mainstream press is also part of a major conspiracy to conceal evidence of early spread from the public.
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Source material for above article ….
Article by The Washington Free Beacon.
Department of Defense Report to Armed Services Committee regarding number of Americans who became sick at the World Military Games. This report was supposed to have been provided by the summer of 2022, but was disclosed to representatives in December 2022. The report was finally published on a DoD website in March of this year, although the Free Beacon says the report seems to have been “buried.”
A Separate Letter from U.S. Senator Roger Marshall asking the Secretary of the HHS six questions about the WMG.
Article on sick athletes at MWG from May 6, 2020 by The UK’s Daily Mail.
Another article from The Daily Mail re-visiting the same subject, published June 23, 2021.
An article from the WSJ showing the importance of antibody studies in determining possible early cases. The article notes that antibody levels subside or wane over time, making the point that WHEN someone receives an antibody test is very important information.
Article from Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin that makes many of the points I made in today’s Substack dispatch.
Article from June 30, 2020 by The American Prospect asking if the Military World Games were a “super spreader event.” The article includes examples of DoD officials seemingly evading questions about this event.
Article from the website “42” that repeats claims of two Canadian whistleblowers who said the Canadian government refused to investigate early cases at the MWG in Wuhan.
Article from The Financial Post (or National Post) in Canada that reported the claims of two Canadian whistleblowers. One whistleblower said 60 athletes were put in “isolation” on a return flight from Wuhan.
Daily Mirror article on athletes who became sick at the Military Games. This article quotes a French medical professor who said antibody tests would have been “fairly easy” to perform on athletes and, if positive, would have “confirmed” early cases.
Bill Rice, Jr. article “Early spread evidence in one document.” This article lists hundreds of people who have antibody evidence of infections in the fall and winter of 2019.
insidethegames’ article that also summarizes many of the athletes who became sick at the Military Games.
A Twitter thread where users of “The Reader Ap” provide links to stories from the international press about athletes and visitors who became sick at the Military Games. Most of these articles are not in English, but users provided synopses of the main points in the articles.
I found no direct links to these French TV stations, but several stories reference French TV reports by BFMTV, Ouest-France and “local TV channel Television Loire 7.
Two articles from a roving correspondent for Rebel News, articles which claim Canadian’s Surgeon General didn’t respond to whistleblowers’ charges they might have contracted Covid in Wuhan. The correspondent said government officials “showed up at his door” after he published his first story and made a series of posts on Twitter. According to this independent correspondent, these visitors were seeking to intimidate him into dropping the story. See links inside today’s story.
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*** (Research and writing of this story - and Part 2, to come - took several days of work. Support from generous paid subscribers or writer “gratuities” make such research possible and are greatly appreciated.) ***
If you read the American Prospect story, you'll see that the DoD actually changed an official transcript after a general's press conference and deleted references to one question a reporter asked the general about the World Military Games!
The question is archived on C-Span but the sound on that question is muted, per the Prospect.
My gosh. That's brazen. That question must have been right over a very vulnerable target.
I haven't researched this yet, but I'd be curious to know how many medals America won at other World Military Games. (The 2020 games were the 7th ever held.) Did America also rank No. 35 in medals at these games, including the 2024 games?