‘As we said early on, there is no way this virus came from us…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) The World Health Organization claimed there is no evidence the coronavirus originated in China’s Wuhan lab, despite multiple reports that suggest otherwise.
Last week, the Washington Post reported that the State Department had been sent two warnings a couple of years ago about China’s Wuhan research facility, which was studying different strains of the coronavirus.
This lab lacked the proper equipment and safety protocols, according to two cables sent to State Department officials from U.S. scientists who had visited the lab.
The first cable sent back to the U.S. warned that “the lab’s work on bat coronaviruses and their potential human transmission represented a risk of a new SARS-like pandemic,” according to the Post’s Josh Rogin.
Yet the WHO continues to insist, without providing evidence, that “the virus has an animal origin and was not manipulated or constructed in a lab or somewhere else,” said WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib, according to Reuters.
Chaib couldn’t provide an explanation for how the virus was transmitted from animals to humans, but added that there was “certainly” an animal host at one point.
China has also claimed the coronavirus did not originate in its Wuhan lab, slamming as a “conspiracy theory” the growing questions about the virus’s origin.
“As people who carry out viral study, we clearly know what kind of research is going on in the institute and how the institute manages viruses and samples,” said Yuan Zhiming, vice director fo the Wuhan Institute of Virology. “As we said early on, there is no way this virus came from us.”
This isn’t the first time the WHO has taken China’s side.
The WHO also repeated Chinese claims that the virus could not spread via human-to-human contact, and has reported China’s coronavirus death numbers as fact, despite testimonies from Wuhan residents that suggest the death count is much higher.
Because of this, President Donald Trump announced last week that the U.S. will stop funding the United Nations-backed organization, pending an investigation into what the WHO knew about the coronavirus, and when, and why it has cozied up to the Chinese Communist Party’s talking points over the past month.
“The reality is that the WHO failed to adequately obtain, vet, and share information in a timely and transparent fashion,” Trump said, adding that U.S. officials will conduct a review “to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus.”
Characteristically, Hollywood and others on the Left have responded by rallying around WHO, including a high-profile televised benefit to raise funds for the beleaguered propaganda outlet.