The coronavirus burst onto the world stage to kill over seven million people. Unfortunately, how it started remains a devilish mystery. Did the virus evolve naturally in a Wuhan wet market or was it released as a distraction to hide a deadly crime?
John McGory lived in Wuhan for six years prior to the outbreak. His new book, The Wuhan Games, tells a riveting story about how and why the virus was released on an unsuspecting Wuhan.
“The virus release didn’t happen overnight or without a purpose. Living in Wuhan as a journalist helped me piece together how the pandemic began,” McGory said.
The journalist and educator left his Westerville, Ohio home in 2014 to embark on a life-changing journey to China.
A placement company found him a teaching job at Jianghan University in Wuhan, China. Six years later, as he was preparing to return to America, the coronavirus struck the central Chinese city.
“Ideas on how the virus started fall into two camps. Most believe it was released from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. But how and why? My book answers those questions,” he said.
McGory had a second job as a language editor for the Changjiang Weekly, Wuhan’s largest English newspaper. He worked on the paper for four years prior to the outbreak, covering stories such as the opening of the virus institute.
“The newspaper’s Chinese reporters taught me about the city and how to track local sources of information. This knowledge helped in writing the book.”
The book details a string of unusual occurrences in Wuhan starting years prior to the 2020 outbreak. These unrelated activities began to arouse interest in the journalist.
“A series of suspicious events took place prior to the virus. Linking these activities with clues from local newspaper articles, comments from 600 social media contacts, and Communist Party releases built what, I think, was an obvious conclusion.”
Plenty of time in quarantine allowed the author to research the topic before much of the information was scrubbed from the Internet.
“Quarantined for a month in Wuhan and two weeks in San Diego provided an opportunity to capture bits and pieces of real Internet clues to add to my own suspicions before they were swept under the rug.”
McGory said he took his time in writing the book to see if any evidence came out countering his premise.
“The Washington Post had a 2023 opinion piece that laid out the issues but stopped short of providing a reason. But nothing released by any major media outlet contradicts my book. I was there and stand by my story.”
The issue of weaponizing disease, according to McGory, is his reason for writing the book.
“Vaccines and masks became the overriding concerns during the pandemic. But the overlooked issue is the advanced use of disease as a weapon. Living in a terrified Wuhan scared me and should scare the world.”
The Wuhan Games can be found on Amazon.com.
John McGory teaches journalism at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. You can contact him via email at [email protected].