Chinese authorities accused the US government on Wednesday of spreading “conspiracy” theories about the origin of the coronavirus pandemic, at the time when the hypothesis that a laboratory error would have allowed the virus to escape regains strength.
The first cases of covid-19 were identified in late 2019 in the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan, before the virus spread worldwide and caused more than 3.5 million deaths.
Chinese officials have always denied the theory that the coronavirus emerged in a laboratory, specifically at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, an accusation made directly by then American President Donald Trump.
This week, an article in the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) rekindled that hypothesis, and requests for a deeper investigation into it are multiplying – including in the scientific community.
“Some in the United States spread conspiracy theories and false information, such as the hypothesis of a laboratory error,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told the press.
Saying it was based on an unprecedented report from American Intelligence, the newspaper said that three scientists from the Chinese laboratory were admitted to a hospital with “symptoms compatible” with a covid-19 condition in November 2019, that is, a month before the appearance official of the disease, according to Beijing.
The newspaper acknowledges, however, that these symptoms may also be those of a typical infection of the season.
“If the United States wants to be truly transparent, it should, as China does, invite experts from the Health Organization (WHO) to investigate at the Fort Detrick military base, as well as in all biological laboratories in the world,” added Zhao .
Located near Washington, DC, the Fort Detrick laboratory is an essential center in the fight against bioterrorism.
After four weeks in Wuhan earlier this year, WHO and Chinese experts released a joint study, saying it was “extremely unlikely” that the origin of the virus was an accident in a laboratory.
