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, which are capable of transmitting 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 ignore reporting protocols, allowing viruses to circulate quietly. Meanwhile, the highly profitable trade of wild animals continues to thrive, despite the clearly identified risks of transmission. 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 alerting doctors. This initial silence results in a crucial one-month delay before the official admission of human-to-human transmission.
The global spread of the virus panics countries:
International spread is fueled by the massive migration during the Chinese New Year, making Wuhan an ideal hub for the virus. The pathogen is exported to Asia as early as January 8, 2020, and 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 massive invisible circulation facilitated by asymptomatic cases.
In the face of alarming projections predicting “a collapse of healthcare systems,” countries shift to radical crisis management: by the end of March 2020, nearly 3.26 billion people are confined. This leads to a race for vaccine development, marked by geopolitical tensions and backstabbing between allies for access to stocks.
The era of information warfare:
The health crisis is compounded by an “infodemic,” a saturation of contradictory facts and rumors that erode public trust. The initial uncertainty of experts and journalists leaves a void filled by competing narratives. Information quickly becomes a weapon used by states in attempts to destabilize, with social networks playing a major amplifying role, spreading conspiracy theories and unverified information, both about 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.
