Wuhan Institute of Virology breaks silence amid global clamour that Covid originated there

Amid dely coronavirus pandemic, director of Wuhan Institute of Virology Yuan Zhiming denied claims that laboratory could be source of COVID-19 outbreak. Zhiming in an interview with Chinese media called it "impossible" and said that re's way virus came m.

In an interview with state media, Yuan Zhiming said that ne of his staff h been infected, and "whole institute is carrying out research in different areas related to coronavirus". laboratory’s director said that media outlets are trying to misle people. “As people who carry out viral studies we clearly kw what kind of research is going on at institute and how institute mans viruses and samples,” he said. “I kw it’s impossible.”

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Chinese scientists have said virus likely jumped from an animal to humans in a market that sold wildlife. But existence of virology institute with a high-security biosafety laboratory has fuelled conspiracy ories that germ spre from Wuhan Institute of Virology, specifically its P4 laboratory which is equipped to handle dangerous viruses.

Several ories are circling about Wuhan Institute of Virology’s P4 laboratory, which is equipped to handle dangerous viruses. United States, which has repeatedly accused China of concealing origin and seriousness of coronavirus from world, is probing wher pandemic actually originated in institute. This has me Beijing come under increasing pressure over transparency in its handling of pandemic.

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Earlier in February, institute h alrey dismissed ory, saying it h shared information about pathogen with World Health Organization in early January.

Recently, US media in an investigative report claimed that initial transmission of virus was bat-to-human and "patient zero" worked at laboratory where it was being studied in Wuhan - Wuhan Institute of Virology. Reports have quoted anymous sources who voiced concern that virus may have come -- accidentally -- from facility. 

Replying to which, Yuan said reports were "entirely based on speculation" without "evidence or kwledge". 

Authorities in Wuhan initially tried to cover up outbreak and re have been questions about official tally of infections with government repeatedly changing its counting criteria at peak of outbreak. This week authorities in city mitted mistakes in counting its death toll and abruptly raised figure by 50 per cent. A US investigative report claimed that virus was first accidentally leaked by an intern at Wuhan Institute of Virology, who was 'patient zero'. intern in question allegedly first infected her boyfriend, after which it meandered its way to wet-market where it did eventually proliferate.

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US blames China

But US-China blame game has brought rumours into mainstream, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying US officials are doing a "full investigation" into how virus "got out into world". Also, President Donald Trump also said that US is looking into reports that vel coronavirus, which has killed more than 150,000 people globally, "escaped" from a virology laboratory in China's Wuhan city.

"We're looking at it, a lot of people are looking at it. It seems to make sense," Trump told reporters at a White House news conference on Friday when asked if re was an investigation into wher coronavirus disease (COVID-19) escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China. 

coronavirus-related cases in world have w mounted to 2,414,098 and deaths at 165,153. US has, so far, recorded 764,265 coronavirus positive cases and 40,565 deaths. Whereas, China has reported over 82,747 positive cases and 4,632 deaths so far.

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(with ncies' inputs)