Coronavirus first leaked by Wuhan lab intern; spread to boyfriend, then wet-market: Report

Amid the deadly coronavirus pandemic, US media in an investigative report claimed that the initial transmission of the virus was bat-to-human and the "patient zero" worked at the laboratory where it was being studied in Wuhan - the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Calling the virus a naturally occurring strain among bats and not a bioweapon, the reports also add that the lab employee was accidentally infected before spreading the disease among the common people outside the lab in Wuhan city.

According to the news agency, the Wuhan wet market which was initially identified as the place of origin of the virus never sold bats. However, China blamed the wet market to deflect blame from the laboratory. The report further mentions that the virus was being studied in the lab as an attempt by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to demonstrate that its efforts to identify and combat viruses are equal to or greater than the capabilities of the United States.

READ | Centre Clarifies No Decision On Resuming Flights Post-COVID Lockdown On May 4

In a similar report by another international news agency, it was stated that two years ago, the US embassy officials in China raised concerns about the insufficient biosafety at the Chinese government's Wuhan Institute of Virology where deadly viruses and infectious diseases are studied.

Though the institute, located quite close to the Wuhan wet market, is China's first biosafety level IV lab, the US state department had warned in 2018 about a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory, the report claims. The intern in question allegedly first infected her boyfriend, after which it meandered its way to the wet-market where it did eventually proliferate.

READ | India Revises FDI Policy- Govt Nod Required By All Neighbouring Nations To Invest In Cos

Trump slams China

Supporting the same President Donald Trump on Saturday also said that the US is looking into reports that the novel 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 there was an investigation into whether the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China. 

READ | Coronavirus LIVE Updates: India Revises FDI Policy To Protect Companies, Cases At 16365

"They talk about a certain kind of bat, but that bat wasn't in that area if you can believe this," he claimed. "That bat wasn't sold at that wet zone... That bat is 40 miles away. A lot of strange things are happening, but there is a lot of investigation going on and we are going to find out," Trump said. "All I can say is wherever it came from, came from China in whatever form, 184 countries now are suffering because of it."

The coronavirus-related cases in the world have now mounted to 2,331,892 and the deaths at 160,763. The US has, so far, recorded 738,913 coronavirus positive cases and 39,015 deaths. Whereas, China has reported over 82,735 positive cases and 4,632 deaths so far.

READ | Looking Into Reports That Coronavirus 'escaped' From China's Wuhan Lab: Trump

(with agencies input)