Former director of US National ­Intelligence John Ratcliffe said the buy-up of PCR equipment in Wuhan in 2019 was significant. “I think there’s more than just smoke here, I think there’s fire from a whole bunch of different sources,” he said. “I think that would be ­another compelling piece of evidence, if you need more. I don’t need more.”

PCR – Polymerase Chain Reaction – equipment is used to ­research DNA and genes in laboratories. It has also been used to test for coronaviruses. The data shows the significant increase in PCR purchasing starts in July 2019.

Former CIA Director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Sky News last month that he believes that the pandemic originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) and that he has seen evidence that he says indicates that the pandemic could have erupted as early as Summer 2019, which is consistent with the increased purchases of the tests.

“There was enormous, albeit indirect evidence, that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the center point for this,” Pompeo said. “I’ve seen data points that place it in the summertime of 2019, late summer, July, August of 2019. I’ve seen no evidence that there’s a cluster that began any place but this. I’m all ears to see if any evidence that presents something, some fact set to the contrary.”