Chinese lab research linked to COVID-19 pandemic, report says
After a two-year investigation, a government report has determined that hazardous virus research in China is the "most likely source of the COVID-19 pandemic". The 525-page document, released Monday by the Coronavirus Pandemic Select Committee, outlines the key arguments supporting the lab leak theory.
The report highlights the biological features of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that do not occur naturally, including the presence of a furin cleavage site. It notes evidence suggesting a single virus transmission to humans, rather than multiple zoonotic events.
It also emphasises that Wuhan—the location where the virus was first detected—is home to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), the largest lab in China studying SARS viruses.
The document cites US intelligence reports, stating that several researchers from WIV fell ill in autumn 2019 with an illness exhibiting symptoms similar to COVID-19. It highlights the lack of direct evidence linking the virus to animals from the Wuhan market or its supply chain, which challenges the natural origin theory of the virus.
Wuhan Institute of Virology central to controversy
WIV has long been at the centre of controversy related to the lab leak theory because scientists there often modify viruses as part of gain-of-function (GOF) research to understand how viruses can become more infectious or virulent.
Critics argue that such research could have resulted in the accidental release of the virus.
Why was COVID-19 created?
The report also cites an analysis by scientists from Harvard University, who identified five reasons why COVID-19 might have been created by Chinese scientists. The Daily Mail previously reported on documents describing plans to "engineer spike proteins" to infect human cells, which were to be "inserted into SARS-CoV backbones" at WIV in December 2018.
The committee emphasises that the GOF research conducted at WIV might have exceeded safety boundaries. In the US, such research would be conducted under BSL-3 conditions, requiring more stringent safety protocols. Meanwhile, at WIV, it might have been carried out under less secure BSL-2 conditions.
"Virus was already circulating among people"
The report quotes Dr Alina Chan, a molecular biologist from the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard University, who stated: "The outbreak at the Wuhan market likely occurred after the virus was already circulating among people".
The committee also points out the lack of response from the World Health Organisation to early warnings from Taiwan on 31 December 2019, concerning "atypical pneumonia cases" in Wuhan.
The debate over the origin of COVID-19 has been ongoing for more than four years, and the pandemic has claimed over 25 million lives worldwide.
The report concludes by stating: "It's more than a coincidence that COVID-19 emerged in a city with a laboratory preparing to conduct such research under BSL-2 conditions, which are cheaper but riskier".
