According to the head of the World Health Organization, “further investigation is needed to conclusively rule out a theory that COVID-19 emerged from a laboratory in China.”
The BBC reported that “Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday that although a laboratory leak is the least likely cause, more extensive research is needed.”
“Dr Tedros said the team had difficulty accessing raw data and called for ‘more timely and comprehensive data sharing’ in the future,” the BBC added.
“Let me say clearly that as far as WHO is concerned, all hypothesis remain on the table,” he said.
This comes just a few days after “Dr. Robert Redfield, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told CNN’s chief medical correspondent in an interview that he believes the novel coronavirus pandemic originated from a lab in Wuhan, China,” as reported by The Daily Wire.
“Redfield, who served under former President Donald Trump for four years, told CNN correspondent Sanjay Gupta, ‘the most likely etiology of this pathogen in Wuhan was from a laboratory.’ The virologist added: ‘Other people don’t believe that, that’s fine, science will eventually figure it out,’” the Daily Wire report continued.
“It’s not unusual for respiratory pathogens that are being worked on in [a] laboratory to infect the laboratory worker,” said Redfield, having clarified earlier that “[t]hat’s my own view. It’s only an opinion. I’m allowed to have opinions now.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) responded to these remarks, saying, “This was never a conspiracy theory. The Chinese Communist Party needs to be held accountable,” adding that “all of the circumstantial evidence points to the Wuhan labs.”
We may never have direct, conclusive evidence because of the Chinese Communist Party's coverup.
But all of the circumstantial evidence points to the Wuhan labs.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) March 26, 2021
However, for the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic under the Trump administration, the notion that the virus originated in a Chinese lab was widely rejected as a conspiracy theory. Here’s how this now-valid theory was treated when Donald Trump was one of the figures suggesting it.
The Washington Post — “Was the new coronavirus accidentally released from a Wuhan lab? It’s doubtful.”
Citing Donald Trump’s comments from April 15, 2020, that “I will tell you, more and more, we’re hearing the story [that the new coronavirus emerged from a Wuhan lab],” The Washington Post fact-check “bottom line” stated:
The balance of the scientific evidence strongly supports the conclusion that the new coronavirus emerged from nature — be it the Wuhan market or somewhere else. Too many unexpected coincidences would have had to take place for it to have escaped from a lab. But the Chinese government has not been willing or able to provide information that would clarify lingering questions about any possible role played by either Wuhan lab.
That’s why intelligence agencies are still exploring that possibility, no matter how remote it may be. And even then, it’s unclear when or if we will ever know the origin story of this new virus that is causing death and economic turmoil around the globe.
Politifact — “This virus, COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 virus, actually is not from nature. It is a man-made virus created in the lab.”
Politifact rated this statement on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” by Li-Meng Yan as “Pants On Fire!” with the sub-heading “Tucker Carlson guest airs debunked conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was created in a lab.”
“Scientists say the coronavirus emerged from bats and later jumped to humans,” the fact-check states. “The genetic structure of the novel coronavirus rules out laboratory manipulation. Public health authorities have repeatedly said the coronavirus was not derived from a lab.”
Business Insider — “23% of Americans think the coronavirus was created in a Chinese lab, a survey suggests. Here’s why that conspiracy theory is bogus.”
“About one in four Americans and Britons think the idea that the virus was engineered in a Wuhan laboratory is a “reliable” claim, according to a recent study, despite abundant scientific evidence to the contrary,” Business Insider reported.
“Another theory suggests that the new coronavirus had animal origins, but that a sample of it collected for prior study accidentally leaked from a lab. Believers of this conspiracy generally point to the Wuhan Institute of Virology as the source of the leak, since scientists there study infectious diseases, including coronaviruses,” the report added. “There’s no evidence, however, that a lab leak occurred there or anywhere else.”
Buzzfeed News — “This Is What We Know About The Wuhan Lab That Trump Blames For COVID-19”
“The Wuhan Institute of Virology previously conducted controversial experiments to test what could make coronaviruses more dangerous to humans, but scientists have ruled out that SARS-CoV-2 is a product of genetic engineering,” Buzzfeed wrote.
“Despite the questions and rumors, there’s quite a bit we do know about the research that was done at the Wuhan lab and why it’s unlikely to be the origin of the new coronavirus,” they added later.
Vanity Fair — “‘The Discussion Is Basically Over’: Why Scientists Believe the Wuhan-Lab Coronavirus Origin Theory Is Highly Unlikely”
“Trump and Mike Pompeo’s favorite blame-China theory makes great propaganda — but dubious science,” wrote Joe Pompeo for Vanity Fair.
“The lab-accident scenario seems the stuff of Hollywood thrillers — and perfect as propaganda, which operates on principles similar to those of thrillers — but there are a few facts that give it a surface plausibility,” he added.
LA Times — “Was the coronavirus made in a Wuhan lab? Here’s what the genetic evidence shows”
“Like the virus whose origin it purports to explain, the following conjecture refuses to die: The novel coronavirus was cooked up in a Chinese lab and either escaped or was intentionally released,” reported the LA Times.
“It’s a claim without the support of any publicly available evidence. It implies that tight-lipped members of a large and malign network colluded to engineer the COVID-19 pandemic or to cover up an accident that caused it. The story has all the earmarks of a conspiracy theory. And it has drawn support from the highest levels of the U.S. government,” the report added.
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.