Wuhan laboratory rejects being source of coronavirus origin

WUHAN (AFP): The director of a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan has rejected the claims that it could be the source of the outbreak, calling it “impossible”.

In an interview with state media, Yuan Zhiming – director of the laboratory – has said that there was no way that the virus originated from the lab. “None of the laboratory staff had been infected,” he said.

The Director of the laboratory said that the whole institute was carrying out research in different areas related to the coronavirus.

Earlier in February, the institute had already dismissed the theory and said that it had shared information about the pathogen with the World Health Organization in January.

Commenting on the research, which suggested that the virus could have come from the institute, Yuan said, “I know it’s impossible.”

“As people who carry out viral studies we clearly know what kind of research is going on at the institute and how the institute manages viruses and samples,” he added.

He also criticized some media outlets and said that these media outlets were deliberately trying to mislead people, adding that because the P4 laboratory is in Wuhan people can’t help but make associations. Yuan said the reports were “entirely based on speculation” without “evidence or knowledge”.

Some US media outlets have quoted anonymous sources and said that coronavirus may have come accidentally from the facility.  

Earlier this week, the United States has brought the rumours into the mainstream, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying US officials are doing a “full investigation” into how the virus got out into the world.