Coronavirus may have leaked from Chinese lab in Wuhan, says American scientist

The deadly Coronavirus, scientifically known as COVID-19, may have leaked from a Chinese laboratory, American social-scientist has claimed.

In his commentary titled “Don’t buy China’s story: The coronavirus may have leaked from a lab”, published by the New York Post; Steven Westley Mosher writes that there are several indications that the virus may have come from a Chinese lab in Wuhan City.

Mr Mosher (above), who is the President of Population Research Institute refers to an incident in which Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired an emergency meeting in Beijing on how to prevent the virus and avert any possible re-occurrence.

According to him, it emerged from the meeting that Jinping knew about the virus and had issued orders on January 7 before his first public comments on January 20, when the outbreak was gaining strength.

Even though the Chinese leader did not exclusively state that he knew about the handling of the virus, Mosher argues that Chinese government was well aware of the dangers of the virus before it spilled.

“Xi didn’t actually admit that the coronavirus now devastating large swaths of China had escaped from one of the country’s bioresearch labs. But the very next day, evidence emerged suggesting that this is exactly what happened,” Mosher’s piece dated February 22 reads.

He traces the evidence from a precautionary statement that was issued by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology on the preferred safety directives.

The directive was titled: “Instructions on strengthening biosecurity management in microbiology labs that handle advanced viruses like the novel coronavirus.”

Based on this directive, the 71-year old scientist concludes that China may have shot herself on the foot by leaking the virus.

He writes: “Read that again. It sure sounds like China has a problem keeping dangerous pathogens in test tubes where they belong, doesn’t it? And just how many “microbiology labs” are there in China that handle “advanced viruses like the novel coronavirus”?”

Mosher then narrows down to the Wuhan Institute of Virology as the most probable origin of the killer virus.

“It turns out that in all of China, there is only one. And this one is located in the Chinese city of Wuhan that just happens to be … the epicenter of the epidemic,” he concludes.

Adding: “That’s right. China’s only Level 4 microbiology lab that is equipped to handle deadly coronaviruses, called the National Biosafety Laboratory, is part of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”

He points to a February 16, 2020 development when China deployed biological warfare expert Maj.Gen Chen Wei to contain the spread of virus. 

According to the Mosher, General Wei has been researching the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) since the 2002 SARS outbreak. And, his trip to Wuhan Institute of Virology was not the first one.

“Does that suggest to you that the novel coronavirus, now known as SARS-CoV-2, may have escaped from that very lab, and that Chen’s job is to try to put the genie back in the bottle, as it were? It does to me,” he states.

On February 20, just two days before Mosher’s commentary was published, Wuhan-based virology lab lamented social media rumours that the virus may have spilled from the confines of its walls.

It termed the rumours as conspiracy theories that threatened to jeorpadise the fight against the virus.

On Monday, the World Health Organisation warned that COVID-19, which has killed over 2,600 and affected over 80,000 people in mainland China may escalate into full-blown pandemic.

South Korea comes second in terms of the countries heavily affected by the virus. Other countries which have registered COVID-19 deaths include Iran, Italy, Philippines, among others.?