As White House medical adviser, Dr Anthony Fauci on Thursday called on China to release the medical records of some people suspected of having contracted a similar illness before the coronavirus pandemic. This could help determine if the virus may have come from a lab.
The theory long considered probable of a laboratory leak has resurfaced in recent weeks after information appeared in the US press that scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were hospitalized in November 2019 with associated symptoms. to bodies of COVID-19, but also to those of a “seasonal infection”.
Speaking to the Financial Times on Thursday, Fauci said these medical records could answer crucial questions about the origins of COVID-19 in Wuhan. In this Chinese metropolis, the pandemic has occurred which has already claimed the lives of more than 3.6 million people around the world.
“I would like to see the medical records of three people who fell ill in 2019,” the immunologist said. “Did they really get sick, and if so, from what?” “
Scientists had entered a cave in China’s Yunnan Province where bats were found. According to Fauci, it is “quite conceivable that the origin of COVID-19 could be in this cave, and that (the virus) has started to spread naturally or through the lab.”
In May, Fauci said many specialists “think it’s more likely” that the disease is a “natural event” but that they “don’t have a 100% response.”
China is fighting the laboratory hypothesis with all its might. Beijing accused Washington of “spreading conspiracy theories” and denied reports of hospitalization of Wuhan researchers.
In a study by experts from the World Health Organization and China who visited Wuhan earlier this year, the natural cause thesis is most likely. This theory claims that the virus first appeared in bats before spreading to humans, possibly via another animal.
China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday relied on the investigative team’s findings to refute Fauci’s claims, citing unfounded claims that the virus first appeared in the US military laboratory in Fort. Detrick.
Last week, US President Joe Biden ordered intelligence agencies to submit a report on the origins of COVID-19 within 90 days.
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