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Wuhan lab’s director rejects claims they started COVID-19

The director of a laboratory in Wuhan, China—the ground-zero city of coronavirus disease (COVID-19)— has refuted accusations that they are the source of the global pandemic that has already infected over 2 million people around the world.
In an interview with China’s state media CGTN, Yuan Zhiming, director of Wuhan Institute of Virology, called the claim “impossible,” adding that “there’s no way this virus came from us.”
While Chinese scientists have earlier noted that the virus may have jumped from an animal to humans in a wet market selling wildlife species, various conspiracy theories as well as the United States claim that the virus have originated in a high-security biosafety laboratory such as Wuhan’s said facility.
READ ALSO: ‘From bats to snakes’ China bans wildlife trade amid Wuhan coronavirus outbreak
Even Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that some of the US officials are trying to investigate how the virus got out into the world.
Zhiming added in the interview that no one from their team is infected and that the institute is “carrying out research in different areas related to the coronavirus.” He also noted that they have been transparent about the pathogen’s information with World Health Organization, sharing data as early as January this year.
He added that it is also impossible that the virus originated from their lab, and that media outlets are “deliberately trying to mislead people” by associating their P4 laboratory—an area in the facility equipped to handle dangerous viruses—with such theories.
China has been widely criticized for over their transparency in handling the pandemic, with many saying Wuhan authorities trying to cover it up regarding the official tally of infections at the peak of the outbreak. They have recently admitted their mistakes in the death toll, raising the figure by 50 percent.
SEE ALSO: Wuhan hospital head dies from new coronavirus

Staff Report

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