COVID-19: Wuhan Institute of Virology kept bats in cages, reveals video after WHO's denial

While the World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly dismissed the Wuhan ‘lab leak’ theory as the origin of COVID-19, new footage from the Wuhan Insitute of Virology in China has purportedly revealed that bats were kept in cages. The SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19 and was discovered for the first time in China, is determined to have its roots in animals such as bats. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Wuhan ‘lab leak’ theory was fueled with claims that the pathogens related to animals were being studied by scientists in China. While WHO experts denied its possibility following their investigation in China’s Wuhan, the video obtained by Sky News Australia disapproves UN health agency’s denials. 

As per the report, the leaked video is an official Chinese Academy of Sciences video to mark the launch of the new biosafety level 4 laboratory in May 2017. The 10-minute-long footage not only speaks about the security precautions that are in place if  “an accident” occurs but also reveals “intense clashes” with the French government during the construction of the laboratory. The video showing bats being held in a cage at the Wuhan Insitute of Virology came after zoologist Peter Daszak, a member of the WHO team investigating the origin of the pandemic in the Chinese province suggested it is a conspiracy that bats were held at the lab. 

In December 2020, in a tweet, Daszak said, “No BATS were sent to Wuhan lab for genetic analysis of viruses collected in the field. That’s now how this science works. We collect bat samples, send them to the lab. We RELEASE bats where we catch them!”

In another tweet from December 11, 2020, he said, “This is a widely circulated conspiracy theory. This piece describes work I’m the lead on and labs I’ve collaborated with for 15 years. They DO NOT have live or dead bats in them. There is no evidence anywhere that this happened. It’s an error I hope will be corrected.”

However, the leaked footage titled “The construction and research team of Wuhan P4 laboratory of Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences” even shows a scientist feeding a worm to bat in the cage. The video also features interviews with its leading scientists. 

What has WHO officially said about animals at WIV?

The 14-member team of WHO experts assigned to find the origin of the disease that rocked the entire world last year, denied any link between COVID-19 and the Wuhan Insitute of Virology. The report by the WHO team did not mention that any bats were kept at the lab and only its annex referred to animals being housed in the building. It states, “The animal room in the P4 facility can handle a variety of species, including primate work with SARS-CoV-2.”

Video leak part of book investigation

While Daszak repeatedly denied Wuhan ‘lab leak’ theory, this month he appeared to backtrack on some of his remarks and confessed that WIV might have housed bats. He also admitted that he had not asked the scientists in Wuhan. Digital archivist “Jesse” found the Chinese Academy of Sciences Video while the group's coordinator, who goes by the pseudonym of “Billy Bostickson” for safety concerns, long flagged the evidence of bats being housed in Wuhan labs. The leaked footage from 2017 is reportedly part of an investigation for the book called “What Really Happened in Wuhan” which is available for pre-order at Amazon and Booktopia.

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