Wuhan, China Edited By: Sneha Swaminathan
Updated: Dec 05, 2022, 03:56 PM IST (wionews.com)
Photograph:(Reuters)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
COVID-19 was allegedly a “man-made virus” that escaped from a notorious research centre in Wuhan, China, according to a scientist now located in the US. Covid was reportedly released two years ago from Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), a state-funded research facility according to the New York Post, which quoted a statement made by US-based researcher Andrew Huff in the British tabloid The Sun. In his most recent book, “The Truth About Wuhan,” epidemiologist Huff asserts that the epidemic was caused by the US government’s financing of coronaviruses in China.
A US-based scientist who previously worked at the infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), China, has claimed that COVID-19 was a “man-made virus” that escaped from the facility. According to the New York Post, which cited a remark made by US-based researcher Andrew Huff in the British newspaper The Sun, Covid was released from WIV, a state-funded and operated research centre, two years ago. Epidemiologist Huff claims that the pandemic was brought on by the US government’s funding of coronaviruses in China in his most recent book, “The Truth About Wuhan.” Huff’s book excerpts have appeared in the UK tabloid The Sun.
According to the New York Post, Huff argues in his book that China’s gain-of-function tests were carried out with insufficient security, which led to a leak at the Wuhan facility.
The Wuhan facility has been the subject of contentious discussions over the Covid virus’s origins, with both Chinese government authorities and lab staff disputing that the virus was created there.
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“Foreign laboratories did not have the adequate control measures in place for ensuring proper biosafety, biosecurity, and risk management, ultimately resulting in the lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Andrew Huff, claims in his book.
With support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the organisation has been researching several coronaviruses in bats for more than ten years and has developed solid bonds with the Wuhan lab.
The NIH is the leading US government organisation in charge of biological and public health research.
According to Huff, who worked at EcoHealth Alliance from 2014 to 2016, the organisation spent several years helping the Wuhan lab establish the “best current tools to modify bat coronaviruses to infect other species.”
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“China knew from day one that this was a genetically engineered agent,” Huff wrote. “The US government is to blame for the transfer of dangerous biotechnology to the Chinese.
According to a recent investigation by ProPublica/Vanity Fair, China’s most dangerous coronavirus research is conducted at the WIV, as reported by the New York Post.
Despite its sparse funding, this research institute has been under intense pressure from the country’s ruling Communist Party to make scientific advancements that would boost its reputation internationally.
(Courtesy of Gwyllm Llwydd)