The True Origin of SARS‑CoV‑2 (Covid-19)

[wwkirk]

Succinct yet comprehensive
10 reasons why scientists believe coronavirus originated from lab in Wuhan, China
Bullet Points

1) No animals have been found to be infected with SARS-CoV-2

2) No evidence of pre-epidemic infections

3) The genetic fingerprint of the virus is so unique it has never been observed in a natural coronavirus

4) The virus appeared in humans already "optimized" into an extremely contagious version

5) The Wuhan Institute of Virology studies bat coronaviruses and has engaged in "gain-of-function" research

6) China has not cooperated and investigators have not had full access to the lab, data

7) Lab leaks are not uncommon, so they should not have been dismissed so quickly at the onset of the pandemic

8) Researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were sick just prior to the community outbreak

9) The Wuhan Institute of Virology has conducted "secret" research projects with the Chinese military

10) There was an "orchestrated effort" by NIH officials and others to quickly shut down the lab-leak theory

 

[nivek]

REVEALED: Dr. Fauci SILENCED all Wuhan lab leak theories after being schmoozed by gain-of-function researcher Peter Daszak whose controversial bat experiments may have sparked the pandemic, new report claims

• Investigators allege Dr. Anthony Fauci silenced any discussion about COVID being caused by a lab leak - and not through animal-to-human transmission
• Fauci also helped a controversial scientist get millions in federal funding to study bats, Vanity Fair researchers who analyzed more than 100,000 documents claim
• They also allege NIH funds may have contributed to the development of the COVID-19, if it was indeed created at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China
• The investigators also claim Daszak and researchers in Wuhan tried to hide evidence about the pandemic’s early spread
• The VF report accuses Daszak of 'presenting the lab-leak hypothesis as a groundless and destructive conspiracy theory'
• The reports also says Fauci contributed to that narrative, citing an instance in 2020 when he reaffirmed a theory of natural spread from animals to humans
• Although the report is not conclusive in how COVID originated, it does provide evidence that Daszak's research was 'risky' and possibly connected

(More on the link)

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[nivek]

Bill Gates claims 'it's quite clear' coronavirus originated in bats, dismisses lab leak theory

Billionaire tech founder and philanthropist Bill Gates dismissed the lab leak theory on the origins of the coronavirus Tuesday, and instead claimed it originated in bats.

Gates appeared on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," to discuss his new book, "How to Prevent the Next Pandemic," and brushed off a suggestion by host Trevor Noah that labs studying viruses needed to do a better job at containing any potential hazard from escaping.

"I found myself reading the book, and I was fascinated, but I was going, shouldn’t we also be interested in how this pandemic came to be?" Noah said. "Like, it’s still shrouded in so much mystery. It's like, how do we prevent something where we don’t even understand how it came to be?"

"Are there labs where they need to do better at, you know, enclosing the work that they’re doing? I understand that they have to do the work, but how do we figure that out, and how do we move forward in that realm?" he added.

Gates responded by turning the focus to the spread of disease from animals, arguing that the coronavirus was no different than other diseases that are known to have originated from animals like chimpanzees and bats.

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[AD1184]

Bill Gates claims 'it's quite clear' coronavirus originated in bats, dismisses lab leak theory

Billionaire tech founder and philanthropist Bill Gates dismissed the lab leak theory on the origins of the coronavirus Tuesday, and instead claimed it originated in bats.

Gates appeared on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," to discuss his new book, "How to Prevent the Next Pandemic," and brushed off a suggestion by host Trevor Noah that labs studying viruses needed to do a better job at containing any potential hazard from escaping.

"I found myself reading the book, and I was fascinated, but I was going, shouldn’t we also be interested in how this pandemic came to be?" Noah said. "Like, it’s still shrouded in so much mystery. It's like, how do we prevent something where we don’t even understand how it came to be?"

"Are there labs where they need to do better at, you know, enclosing the work that they’re doing? I understand that they have to do the work, but how do we figure that out, and how do we move forward in that realm?" he added.

Gates responded by turning the focus to the spread of disease from animals, arguing that the coronavirus was no different than other diseases that are known to have originated from animals like chimpanzees and bats.

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Bill Gates' opinions on scientific and health matters are the opinions of a layperson. He does not even have a university degree, much less scientific qualifications, yet he is treated as if he is a world authority on matters of disease epidemics and public health.

 

[nivek]

Bill Gates' opinions on scientific and health matters are the opinions of a layperson. He does not even have a university degree, much less scientific qualifications, yet he is treated as if he is a world authority on matters of disease epidemics and public health.

Yeah I don't get that, and money certainly doesn't make anyone and expert either...

...

 

[nivek]

WHO chief 'believes COVID DID leak from Wuhan lab' after a 'catastrophic accident' in 2019 - despite publicly maintaining 'all hypotheses remain on the table'



The head of the WHO believes Covid spread after a leak from a Chinese lab, a senior Government source claims. Tedros Adhanom publicly maintains that 'all hypotheses remain', but he recently confided to a senior European politician that the most likely explanation was a catastrophic accident at a laboratory in Wuhan, where infections first spread during late 2019. The Mail on Sunday first revealed concerns within Western intelligence services about the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where scientists were manipulating coronaviruses sampled from bats in caves nearly 1,000 miles away - the same caves where Covid-19 is suspected to have originated - in April 2020. The worldwide death toll from the Covid pandemic is now estimated to have hit more than 18 million.

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[AD1184]

The American economist Jeffrey Sachs, who is special adviser to the European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has come out and said publicly that he believes that SARS-CoV-II was developed with US biotechnology. Sachs is also professor at Columbia University in New York and was appointed by the Lancet journal to chair its Covid Commission.

​

Borrell’s adviser pushes China’s contested claim that COVID came from US​

​

Jeffrey Sachs said he’s ‘pretty convinced’ the virus came out of ‘US lab biotechnology.’​

The Chinese have jumped on this. However, if Covid was developed with US biotechnology (which is plausible, as we know that there was collaboration between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and US's NIAID, as well as the EcoHealth Alliance NGO), the actual development almost certainly took place in China. Sachs is also said to long be a defender of China against the US.

Borrell’s adviser pushes China’s contested claim that COVID came from US

Jeffrey Sachs said he’s ‘pretty convinced’ the virus came out of ‘US lab biotechnology.’

www.politico.eu

Jeffrey Sachs - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Commissioners — Lancet Commission on COVID-19

covid19commission.org

 

[nivek]

Did COVID emerge in notorious wet market after all? Scientists claim they've traced original infection back to Wuhan's 'ground zero' - in discovery that challenges lab leak hypothesis

Fierce debate about the origins of the Covid pandemic was reignited today after two new studies claimed to trace the outbreak back to a notorious animal slaughter market in Wuhan.

One shows for the first time how the earliest human cases were clustered within a small radius around the Huanan Seafood Market in winter 2019.

More precise analysis of swabs taken from floors, cages and counters track the virus back to stalls in the southwestern corner of the market, where animals that can harbour Covid were sold for meat or fur at the time.

A second study claims to have pinpointed the exact date the first animal-to-human infection occurred — November 18, 2019 — after carrying out genetic analysis on hundreds of samples from the first human carriers.

They also say they have found evidence another first generation strain was spreading at the wet market — which, if true, would place both original lineages within its walls.

Until recently, the only Covid cases linked to the market were Lineage B, which was thought to have evolved after Lineage A. Proponents of the accidental lab leak hypothesis used this as proof the virus only arrived at the market after evolving elsewhere in Wuhan.

One of the experts involved in the new studies, virologist Professor David Robertson, of the University of Glasgow, said he hopes they will 'correct the false record that the virus came from a lab'.

But critics have played down or disputed the findings entirely, and warned both studies were carried out by the same group of academics who have regularly argued in favour of the natural origin theory.

(More on the link)

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[nivek]

World's top medical journal finally says Covid-19 COULD have come from lab leak​

The world’s leading medical journal has conceded that the Covid pandemic could have been sparked by a laboratory leak and admits that the virus may have been engineered by scientists.

It might seem a statement of the obvious in calling on global bodies to intensify efforts to determine if Covid-19 came from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan or crossed over from animals infected with a bat virus.

But this is a remarkable turnaround for the 199-year-old Lancet, which printed an infamous article condemning suggestions of a lab leak as ‘conspiracy theories’.

However, the journal – which says the world should take ‘seriously’ both main hypotheses – has also suggested the virus could be linked to laboratories in the US, provoking fears it is still promoting China’s cause rather than good science.

Certainly the landmark report of the Lancet commission into Covid-19 raises many issues, including the alleged stifling of scientific debate, the role of experts and the disturbing fear the West may be kowtowing to China’s dictatorship.

This inquiry – which concludes that the World Health Organisation and many world leaders reacted too slowly – was intended to be the authoritative probe into the pandemic. It points out there are two ‘pathways of emergence’ for the strange coronavirus that appeared in late 2019: through a ‘natural spillover event’ from nature, or from ‘research-related activities’.

It is known some diseases, such as the 2003 Sars epidemic, were traced to ‘zoonotic’ transmission (from animals to humans), although no proven animal host has been found for Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid -19.

We also know that China covered up early cases, silenced doctors, resisted outside inquiries, hid key data and was carrying out high-risk experiments in maximum bio-security laboratories that specialised in research into bat coronaviruses in Wuhan.

Yet this inquiry by The Lancet – now attacked by the strangely aggressive zoonotic lobby that dismisses any suggestion of a lab leak – has been dogged by controversy.

Soon after the virus emerged, the journal published one of the most notorious scientific statements in recent history: a note by 27 experts attacking ‘conspiracy theories suggesting that Covid-19 does not have a natural origin’.

This influential letter played a critical role in silencing scientific, political and media discussion of any idea that the pandemic might have begun with a lab incident.

(More on the link)

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[AD1184]

World's top medical journal finally says Covid-19 COULD have come from lab leak​

The world’s leading medical journal has conceded that the Covid pandemic could have been sparked by a laboratory leak and admits that the virus may have been engineered by scientists.

It might seem a statement of the obvious in calling on global bodies to intensify efforts to determine if Covid-19 came from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan or crossed over from animals infected with a bat virus.

But this is a remarkable turnaround for the 199-year-old Lancet, which printed an infamous article condemning suggestions of a lab leak as ‘conspiracy theories’.

However, the journal – which says the world should take ‘seriously’ both main hypotheses – has also suggested the virus could be linked to laboratories in the US, provoking fears it is still promoting China’s cause rather than good science.

Certainly the landmark report of the Lancet commission into Covid-19 raises many issues, including the alleged stifling of scientific debate, the role of experts and the disturbing fear the West may be kowtowing to China’s dictatorship.

This inquiry – which concludes that the World Health Organisation and many world leaders reacted too slowly – was intended to be the authoritative probe into the pandemic. It points out there are two ‘pathways of emergence’ for the strange coronavirus that appeared in late 2019: through a ‘natural spillover event’ from nature, or from ‘research-related activities’.

It is known some diseases, such as the 2003 Sars epidemic, were traced to ‘zoonotic’ transmission (from animals to humans), although no proven animal host has been found for Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid -19.

We also know that China covered up early cases, silenced doctors, resisted outside inquiries, hid key data and was carrying out high-risk experiments in maximum bio-security laboratories that specialised in research into bat coronaviruses in Wuhan.

Yet this inquiry by The Lancet – now attacked by the strangely aggressive zoonotic lobby that dismisses any suggestion of a lab leak – has been dogged by controversy.

Soon after the virus emerged, the journal published one of the most notorious scientific statements in recent history: a note by 27 experts attacking ‘conspiracy theories suggesting that Covid-19 does not have a natural origin’.

This influential letter played a critical role in silencing scientific, political and media discussion of any idea that the pandemic might have begun with a lab incident.

(More on the link)

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See my earlier post here: The True Origin of SARS‑CoV‑2 (Covid-19)

As it has been from the outset, denials of the possibility of a lab leak as a cause of the pandemic are political, and not scientific, in nature, even if they are coming from scientists.

It is commendable of the Lancet to finally allow the publication of the truthful statement that a laboratory leak is a possible origin of SARS-CoV-2, after it attempted to poison the well of debate on this subject very early in the days of the Wuhan outbreak, before few facts were even known, when it published an open letter written by Peter Daszak, and co-signed by other scientists, denouncing those entertaining the possibility of a lab leak as a cause of the outbreak.

 

[nivek]

More proof COVID was engineered in a lab? Explosive US and German study dismisses natural origin theory​

The coronavirus was likely made in a lab, according to the latest explosive study to shed light on the possible origins of the pandemic. Researchers in the US and Germany studied Covid's genome — the virus' instruction manual — and compared it to dozens of previously detected coronaviruses.

'Peculiar patterns' were visible in the building blocks of the pandemic-causing virus, which they say are hallmark signs that it was manufactured. The team described it as having a 'synthetic fingerprint'.

Study author Dr Alex Washburne, a mathematical biologist, said the lab leak theory can't be ruled out based on the results of his controversial study. Each test his team performed 'decreased the odds of SARS-CoV-2 having a natural origin', he said.

However, Dr Washburne noted his team don't identify which lab that was the source of the outbreak and insisted that the virus looks more 'like an accident' rather than a 'bioweapon'.

Some experts called the results 'troubling' and claimed they offered the 'strongest piece of evidence' yet that the virus was man-made. But dozens of others, including leaders in the field, have hit out at the findings, sparking a fierce row. One virologist said the research is 'so deeply flawed that it wouldn't pass kindergarten molecular biology'. Another said the study was 'very poorly controlled, cherry-picked and making a big deal out of lumps and bumps that are of no significance to the virus'. One described it as 'tinfoil-hat bonkers'.

The study is the latest addition to the fierce argument around how the virus came to sweep the world in 2020. Most leading virologists believe the coronavirus jumped to humans from an infected animal, potentially in the 'ground zero' wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Others think it leaked from a secretive laboratory in the same city. Whether or not it was deliberate or accidental is an even more contentious part of the 'lab leak' theory.

Scientists argue it is vital to find out the origins of the virus so steps can be taken to prevent future pandemics. But many doubt the root source of the pandemic will ever be uncovered, with China accused of trying to conceal investigations.

(More on the link)

 

[wwkirk]

More proof COVID was engineered in a lab? Explosive US and German study dismisses natural origin theory​

The coronavirus was likely made in a lab, according to the latest explosive study to shed light on the possible origins of the pandemic. Researchers in the US and Germany studied Covid's genome — the virus' instruction manual — and compared it to dozens of previously detected coronaviruses.

'Peculiar patterns' were visible in the building blocks of the pandemic-causing virus, which they say are hallmark signs that it was manufactured. The team described it as having a 'synthetic fingerprint'.

Study author Dr Alex Washburne, a mathematical biologist, said the lab leak theory can't be ruled out based on the results of his controversial study. Each test his team performed 'decreased the odds of SARS-CoV-2 having a natural origin', he said.

However, Dr Washburne noted his team don't identify which lab that was the source of the outbreak and insisted that the virus looks more 'like an accident' rather than a 'bioweapon'.

Some experts called the results 'troubling' and claimed they offered the 'strongest piece of evidence' yet that the virus was man-made. But dozens of others, including leaders in the field, have hit out at the findings, sparking a fierce row. One virologist said the research is 'so deeply flawed that it wouldn't pass kindergarten molecular biology'. Another said the study was 'very poorly controlled, cherry-picked and making a big deal out of lumps and bumps that are of no significance to the virus'. One described it as 'tinfoil-hat bonkers'.

The study is the latest addition to the fierce argument around how the virus came to sweep the world in 2020. Most leading virologists believe the coronavirus jumped to humans from an infected animal, potentially in the 'ground zero' wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Others think it leaked from a secretive laboratory in the same city. Whether or not it was deliberate or accidental is an even more contentious part of the 'lab leak' theory.

Scientists argue it is vital to find out the origins of the virus so steps can be taken to prevent future pandemics. But many doubt the root source of the pandemic will ever be uncovered, with China accused of trying to conceal investigations.

(More on the link)

Much more coverage of this in the UK than over here.

 

[nivek]

China 'no longer deserves benefit of the doubt': Bombshell Senate report concludes that COVID 'most likely' leaked from lab - as lawmakers point the finger at Beijing​

The Covid pandemic was most likely the result of a lab leak, according to an explosive Senate report. Policymakers said 'substantial' evidence pointing to a research accident has emerged while evidence for a natural spillover 'is missing'. The report concluded that China's unwillingness to cooperate or open up the main lab in question meant it 'no longer deserves the benefit of the doubt'. It was carried out by the Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor and Pensions.



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[michael59]

More of the same.

Some more discussion about the lab leak hypothesis.
Some very circumstantial evidence:

https://marginalrevolution.com/marg...nstitute-of-virology-in-november-of-2019.html

Pro-Publica (with Vanity Fair) is putting their reputation on the line with a very damning report suggesting COVID emerged from a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The new information isn’t about the virus but about political reports that indicate that there was some kind of emergency at the lab in November of 2019, an emergency that was so serious Xi himself got involved.

www.propublica.org/article/senat

 

[nivek]

Are these the 'hidden' messages that prove Covid leaked from a lab? Reports detail 'grave situation' and 'severe consequences' at Wuhan institute around the time virus emerged​

Toy Reid, an expert in 'official speak' used by Chinese bureaucrats in their missives, believes lab reports sent from the Wuhan Institute of Virology to Beijing just before Covid struck reveal an unfolding crisis. A report on November 12 makes cryptic references to 'opening Pandora's Box' and stresses the need for lab workers to 'operate very cautiously to avoid errors'. A week later, on November 19, another report details how a high-level official had arrived from Beijing for a safety briefing - possibly carrying a missive penned by Xi Jinping himself. Reid and three other independent experts agreed the reports point to an ongoing crisis at the lab which required high-level oversight, possibly going all the way up to Xi himself. While none of the experts could say what the meeting was about, it came just weeks before the first official cases of Covid emerged - and two days after a suspected infection in Hubei province previously reported in the Hong Kong press. Reid helped work on the recent US Senate report that concluded Covid had 'likely' leaked from a lab, and that key evidence to explain how it may have transferred from animals into humans is still missing.

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[nivek]

White House shuts down reporter's Fauci question on COVID origin: 'I'm done with you'​

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre snapped at reporters who raised questions about the origins of COVID-19 during Tuesday's press briefing, which featured outgoing White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci.

During questions after the White House coronavirus response team updated reporters on the administration's vaccine efforts, Daily Caller White House correspondent Diana Glebova attempted to ask a question regarding what Fauci has done to investigate the origins of COVID-19. But Jean-Pierre shut Glebova down and rebuked her for speaking out of turn.

"We have a process here. I'm not calling out on people who yell. And you're being … disrespectful to your colleagues, and you're being disrespectful to our guest," Jean-Pierre said. "I will not call on you if you yell, and also you're taking time off the clock because Dr. Fauci has to leave in a couple of minutes."

When Glebova objected, Jean-Pierre said she was "done" and was "not getting into a back-and-forth with you."

Then Today News Africa journalist Simon Ateba spoke up and said her question was valid and should be asked.

"You need to call people across the room. She has a valid question, she's asked about the origin of COVID," Ateba said.

"It is not your turn," Jean-Pierre shot back. "I hear your question, but we're not doing this the way you want it. This is disrespectful … Simon, I'm done. Simon, I'm done. I'm done with you right now. You're taking time away from your colleagues."

Fauci, who will step down as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in December, has faced questions from Republican lawmakers over his agency's support for coronavirus research in China.

NIAID has provided millions of dollars in grant funding to EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit group that GOP critics claim has supported bat coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawmakers interested in the lab-leak origins theory of COVID-19 want to probe whether that research was the genesis of the pandemic and whether Fauci played any role in approving money that was sent to the Wuhan lab.

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[nivek]

Whistleblower US scientist who worked with Wuhan lab claims COVID WAS genetically engineered and leaked from the site - and says 'the US government is to blame' because it funded the research ​

A scientist who worked closely with a US-funded Wuhan lab has claimed that covid was genetically engineered and leaked from the Chinese facility. Dr Andrew Huff, the former vice president of EcoHealth Alliance, has called it the 'one of the greatest cover-ups in history' and the 'biggest US intelligence failure since 9/11.' The pandemic swept across the globe and has so far claimed the lives of 6.64 million people after first being reported as a cluster of cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, China in late 2019.

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[nivek]

COVID origins 'may have been tied' to China's bioweapons program​

Republican members of the House intelligence committee are alleging in a newly-released report that there are "indications" that COVID-19 could be tied to China’s biological weapons research program and "spilled over" to the general human population during an incident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The information was released in a minority staff report by members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Wednesday night.

"Contrary to the implication of the [Intelligence Community’s] declassified report, based on our investigation involving a variety of public and non-public information, we conclude that there are indications that SARS-CoV-2 may have been tied to China’s biological weapons research program and spilled over to the human population during a lab-related incident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology," a summary of the report states. "The IC failed to adequately address this information in its classified Updated Assessment. When we attempted to raise the issues with the IC, it failed to respond."

In a declassified assessment on the origins of COVID-19 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in Oct. 2021, the report states that SARS-CoV-2 was "probably not a biological weapon," adding that "We remain skeptical of allegations that SARS-CoV-2 was a biological weapon because they are supported by scientifically invalid claims."

Wednesday's report released by House Republicans also alleges that its investigation "revealed serious shortcomings with both the classified and declassified versions of the Intelligence Community’s," and states that the omissions "likely skewed the public’s understanding of key issues and deepened mistrust."

"The Committee believes the IC downplayed important information relating to the possible links between COVID-19 and China’s bioweapons research based in part on input from outside experts," the report states, adding that the intelligence community "refuses to be transparent with the Committee regarding which experts it relied on."

While alleging that COVID's origins were likely tied to China’s biological weapons research program, the report states that "We have not seen any credible indication that the virus was intentionally, rather than accidentally, released."

"Nor do we claim the information we have found is a smoking gun that definitively resolves the question of the origins of COVID-19 beyond all doubt. However, the information is important to furthering the public’s understanding, and we will seek to declassify the classified version of our report in the next Congress to further the conversation," the report states.

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[nivek]

In case you still had doubts about the origin of Covid-19, read this. US Govt funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab in China created Covid-19 and killed millions. Why is the media not reporting about this?



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[nivek]

China shifts COVID origin blame after WHO abandons study into virus beginnings​

The People's Republic of China is denying reports the government has not cooperated with the World Health Organization's study into the origins of COVID-19.

According to a report published in Nature Tuesday, the WHO has unceremoniously canceled the "second phase" of its investigations into the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report cited key officials within the organization claiming China has proved too uncooperative to conduct the intended studies.

"There is no phase two," WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove told the outlet. "The politics across the world of this really hampered progress on understanding the origins."

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin pushed back on these assertions Wednesday in a press conference in Beijing.

"China’s position on the study of the origins of SARS-CoV-2 is consistent," Wang said, when asked about China's transparency with the WHO. "We always support and participate in science-based global origins tracing. At the same time, we firmly oppose all forms of political manipulation."

The spokesman cited two previous envoys of WHO scientists allowed into the country, claiming this demonstrated China was "open" and "transparent" with the international community.

"China has shared more data and research findings on SARS-CoV-2 origins study than any other country," Wang said. "This fully demonstrates China’s open, transparent and responsible attitude and its support for the work of the WHO and SAGO. China will continue to support science-based global origins tracing and keep up communication and cooperation with the WHO."

The first phase of the investigation began in 2020, when a team of WHO scientists spent four weeks in China probing for evidence of the COVID-19's origins. This trip resulted in a report outlining four possible origins, with the most likely listed as a viral leap from bats to humans.

The WHO scientists said in an exit briefing it is "most likely" that the coronavirus was initially transmitted via a jump from animal to human, perhaps starting with a bat associated with the Wuhan seafood market, which was an early hypothesis.

From the time it was published, the WHO report received intense skepticism.

Wang shifted focus away from China during the press conference, claiming that "more and more clues from the international science community are pointing the origins of SARS-CoV-2 to sources around the world."

At once point, Wang specifically proposed a debunked theory of U.S. origin, saying, "Many have raised questions and concerns about U.S. bio-military bases at Fort Detrick and around the world. The WHO and SAGO should take a close look at these clues, effectively cooperate with these relevant countries and share research findings with all parties in a timely way."

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