More Serious Journalisming™:
https://archive.ph/4jMIJ https:// www. reuters. com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-virus-idUSKCN223180
APRIL 21, 2020 / 10:26 AM / UPDATED A YEAR AGO
Coronavirus very likely of animal origin, no sign of lab manipulation: WHO
By Reuters Staff
She did not respond to a request to elaborate on whether it was possible the virus may have inadvertently escaped from a lab. The Wuhan Institute of Virology has dismissed rumours both that it synthesized the virus or allowed it to escape.
https://archive.ph/Bdxln https:// www. reuters. com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-usa-idUSKBN22M0DV
MAY 10, 2020 / 11:53 AM / UPDATED 13 HOURS AGO
China refutes 24 'lies' by U.S. politicians over coronavirus
Yew Lun Tian
The article also cited media reports that said Americans had been infected with the virus before the first case was confirmed in Wuhan. There is no evidence to suggest that is the case.
Keen to quash U.S. suggestions that the virus was deliberately created or somehow leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the article said that all evidence shows the virus is not man-made and that the institute is not capable of synthesising a new coronavirus.
https://archive.ph/XVQbE https:// www. reuters. com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-china-idUSKBN2A309F
FEBRUARY 3, 2021 / 2:29 AM / UPDATED 20 DAYS AGO
WHO team probing COVID-19 visits Wuhan lab, meets 'Bat Woman'
By Martin Quin Pollard, Thomas Peter
The experts spent about 3-1/2 hours at the heavily-guarded Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has been at the centre of some conspiracy theories that claim a laboratory leak caused the city’s first coronavirus outbreak at the end of 2019.
https://archive.ph/NX4YV https:// www. theguardian. com/world/2021/feb/03/who-investigators-visit-wuhan-lab-at-heart-of-china-covid-19-conspiracy-claims
WHO investigators visit Wuhan lab at heart of China Covid-19 conspiracy claims
The team led by Peter Ben Embarek entered the heavily guarded building saying they were looking forward to a ‘productive day’
Reuters
Wed 3 Feb 2021 04.17 GMT
A team of investigators from the World Health Organization has visited a virus research laboratory in Wuhan seeking clues to the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The team, led by WHO virus expert Peter Ben Embarek, arrived at the heavily guarded Wuhan Institute of Virology at about 9.30am on Wednesday.
The institute has been at the centre of a number of conspiracy theories – some promoted by former US president Donald Trump and his secretary of state Mike Pompeo – that claim a laboratory leak caused the city’s first coronavirus outbreak at the end of 2019.
Most scientists reject the hypothesis, but some speculate that a virus captured from the wild could have figured in experiments at the lab to test the risks of a human spillover and then escaped via an infected staff member.
https://archive.ph/Xt7YX https:// www. reuters. com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-china-explaine-idUKKBN2AA0QK
FEBRUARY 10, 2021 / 7:47 AM / UPDATED 3 MONTHS AGO
Explainer: The WHO's theories about the origins of COVID-19 after Wuhan probe
By David Stanway
The final scenario is that SARS-CoV-2 was leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is known to have studied captive coronaviruses. Ben Embarek ruled out the possibility and said it would not be subject to further research. Accidents happen, he said, but it was “very unlikely” in this case.
https://archive.ph/bxsV9 https:// www. reuters. com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-china-factbox-idUSKBN2BL2HX
MARCH 29, 2021 / 5:47 PM / UPDATED 2 MONTHS AGO
Factbox: WHO-China report on virus origins says lab leak extremely unlikely
By Reuters Staff
ON LIKELY SOURCES
• direct zoonotic (animal-to-human) spillover is considered to be a possible-to-likely pathway;
• introduction through an intermediate animal host is considered to be a likely to very likely pathway
• introduction through cold/food chain products is considered a possible pathway
• introduction through a laboratory incident was considered to be an extremely unlikely pathway
UNO REVERSE!:
https://archive.ph/jCb35 https:// www. reuters. com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/origins-covid-19-need-be-investigated-further-leading-scientists-say-2021-05-14/
May 14, 2021 10:24 AM UTC
Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals
COVID-19 lab leak theory cannot be ruled out, leading scientists say
Guy Faulconbridge
The origin of the novel coronavirus is still unclear and the theory that it was caused by a laboratory leak needs to be taken seriously until there is a rigorous data-led investigation that proves it wrong, a group of leading scientists said.
https://archive.ph/aHr8J https:// www. theguardian. com/world/2020/apr/15/trump-us-coronavirus-theory-china
Trump fans flames of Chinese lab coronavirus theory during daily briefing
The president attacked those who favored China, including the WHO, for which he previously announced a hold on funding
David Smith in Washington @smithinamerica
Wed 15 Apr 2020 20.58 EDT
The Pentagon’s top general, Mark Milley, cast doubt on the lab theory earlier this week, saying that US intelligence has looked into the possibility but that the “weight of evidence” thus far pointed towards “natural” origins.
Since the outbreak of the virus in Wuhan in December, more extreme conspiracy theories have suggested that it was engineered as a bioweapon. There is no evidence for this. The scientific journal the Lancet has stated the virus appears to have come from wildlife. An analysis by scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology suggests that the virus’s genome is 96% similar to a coronavirus found in bats.
But the story running prominently on Fox News begins by stating the virus began “not as a bioweapon”, alleging incompetence rather than a malicious attack. This idea has gained more traction, especially among anti-China hardliners in Washington.
https://archive.ph/ucIBL https:// www. theguardian. com/commentisfree/2020/jun/09/conspiracies-covid-19-lab-false-pandemic
Ignore the conspiracy theories: scientists know Covid-19 wasn't created in a lab
Peter Daszak
Instead of following false claims, we should be focusing our efforts on the regions where the next pandemic is likely to emerge
• Peter Daszak is president of EcoHealth Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to analysing and preventing pandemics
Published on Tue 9 Jun 2020 06.14 EDT
Suggestions that Covid-19 is a manmade virus are the latest chapter in a tale of blame, misinformation and finger-pointing. Cue the conspiracy theorists, marching out their narrative about the high-security BSL-4 lab in Wuhan, where mysterious experiments to design “frankenviruses” led to the tragic global pandemic.
https://archive.ph/4jesI https:// www. wired. com/story/if-covid-19-did-start-with-a-lab-leak-would-we-ever-know/
ROGER PIELKE JR.
IDEAS
01.16.2021 10:40 AM
If Covid-19 Did Start With a Lab Leak, Would We Ever Know?
The two major investigations into the origins of the pandemic are compromised by potential conflicts of interest. Those problems need to be fixed—fast.
In the meantime, we’re left to speculate. A long essay by Nicholson Baker, published several weeks ago in New York Magazine, made the case that the pandemic began with a laboratory accident; and while the article has been tarred as an irresponsible, ill-informed and one-sided presentation, even its most ardent critics could concede that the possibility of a lab leak cannot be ruled out with certainty.
There are now two major efforts to investigate where Covid-19 came from: one set up by the World Health Organization, and the other organized by a leading medical journal, The Lancet. The investigations are expected to take months or even years to complete, and, given the many challenges involved, they may never deliver conclusive answers. It’s already clear, however, that both are compromised by a lack of clear procedures to manage conflicts of interest and questionable independence. Now it is imperative that governments and the scientific community act quickly to improve them.
For instance, both investigations include Peter Daszak, disease ecologist and president of the EcoHealth Alliance, a research nonprofit with a history of conducting research into SARS-related coronaviruses and their effects on humans, including collaborative work done at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The Wuhan Institute happens to be the only laboratory in China that is allowed to work with the world’s most dangerous pathogens, and it’s located at the apparent ground zero of the current outbreak.
If there were a lab leak—and, again, most experts do not believe that the available evidence points in this direction—then both the Wuhan Institute and its US partner would be on a short list of candidates to investigate. It should be obvious that no one with any connection to either organization can play a formal role in any truly independent investigation into the pandemic’s origins. (Of course their expert input could and should be solicited through other means.)
Meanwhile, on Nov. 23, 2020, the other investigation, set up by The Lancet, convened a 12-person task force to look into the pandemic’s origins, chaired by Daszak. Among the other members are five more signatories to the EcoHealth Alliance letter from last February, which means that fully half of this team had already suggested that any lab-leak hypothesis was a “conspiracy theory” months before their work began.
https://archive.ph/CVaCq https:// www. foxnews. com/media/bloomberg-noah-smith-so-what-coronavirus-lab-leak-wuhan-china
11 May 2021 11:25:16 UTC
Bloomberg columnist deletes tweet saying 'so what' if COVID came from Wuhan lab leak in China
'Just get lost, dorks,' Noah Smith wrote after critics panned his tweet
By Joseph A. Wulfsohn | Fox News
"Question: How much does anyone really care about the 'lab leak' theory?" Smith asked while sharing a Washington Post article. "If we found that the virus did escape from a lab... so what?"
He continued, "Could be a result of unsafe research practices or poor safety procedures... so be safer when doing research?
When asked why he took down the tweet, Smith replied, "Too many people shouting about it. Just get lost, dorks."
https://archive.ph/7BFtG MSNBCVerified account @MSNBC 3:35 AM - 5 May 2020
.@ChrislHayes on the theory that the coronavirus "escaped" from a lab in Wuhan, China:
“The Trump administration is so desperately grasping at straws, trying to find someone to blame, they don't even seem to understand what they themselves are saying.”
https://archive.ph/pDDJP https:// www. msnbc. com/all-in/watch/chris-hayes-on-right-wing-s-escape-from-the-lab-theory-of-coronavirus-origin-83017285850
Chris Hayes on right-wing’s 'escaped from the lab’ theory of coronavirus origin
Chris Hayes: “But the Trump administration is so desperately grasping at straws, trying to find someone to blame, that they don't even seem to understand what they're saying. They just want a convenient scapegoat.” May 5, 2020
More Serious Journalisming™:
https://archive.ph/4jMIJ https:// www. reuters. com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-virus-idUSKCN223180
APRIL 21, 2020 / 10:26 AM / UPDATED A YEAR AGO
Coronavirus very likely of animal origin, no sign of lab manipulation: WHO
By Reuters Staff
She did not respond to a request to elaborate on whether it was possible the virus may have inadvertently escaped from a lab. The Wuhan Institute of Virology has dismissed rumours both that it synthesized the virus or allowed it to escape.
https://archive.ph/Bdxln https:// www. reuters. com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-usa-idUSKBN22M0DV
MAY 10, 2020 / 11:53 AM / UPDATED 13 HOURS AGO
China refutes 24 'lies' by U.S. politicians over coronavirus
Yew Lun Tian
The article also cited media reports that said Americans had been infected with the virus before the first case was confirmed in Wuhan. There is no evidence to suggest that is the case.
Keen to quash U.S. suggestions that the virus was deliberately created or somehow leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the article said that all evidence shows the virus is not man-made and that the institute is not capable of synthesising a new coronavirus.
https://archive.ph/XVQbE https:// www. reuters. com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-china-idUSKBN2A309F
FEBRUARY 3, 2021 / 2:29 AM / UPDATED 20 DAYS AGO
WHO team probing COVID-19 visits Wuhan lab, meets 'Bat Woman'
By Martin Quin Pollard, Thomas Peter
The experts spent about 3-1/2 hours at the heavily-guarded Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has been at the centre of some conspiracy theories that claim a laboratory leak caused the city’s first coronavirus outbreak at the end of 2019.
https://archive.ph/NX4YV https:// www. theguardian. com/world/2021/feb/03/who-investigators-visit-wuhan-lab-at-heart-of-china-covid-19-conspiracy-claims
WHO investigators visit Wuhan lab at heart of China Covid-19 conspiracy claims
The team led by Peter Ben Embarek entered the heavily guarded building saying they were looking forward to a ‘productive day’
Reuters
Wed 3 Feb 2021 04.17 GMT
A team of investigators from the World Health Organization has visited a virus research laboratory in Wuhan seeking clues to the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The team, led by WHO virus expert Peter Ben Embarek, arrived at the heavily guarded Wuhan Institute of Virology at about 9.30am on Wednesday.
The institute has been at the centre of a number of conspiracy theories – some promoted by former US president Donald Trump and his secretary of state Mike Pompeo – that claim a laboratory leak caused the city’s first coronavirus outbreak at the end of 2019.
Most scientists reject the hypothesis, but some speculate that a virus captured from the wild could have figured in experiments at the lab to test the risks of a human spillover and then escaped via an infected staff member.
https://archive.ph/Xt7YX https:// www. reuters. com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-china-explaine-idUKKBN2AA0QK
FEBRUARY 10, 2021 / 7:47 AM / UPDATED 3 MONTHS AGO
Explainer: The WHO's theories about the origins of COVID-19 after Wuhan probe
By David Stanway
The final scenario is that SARS-CoV-2 was leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is known to have studied captive coronaviruses. Ben Embarek ruled out the possibility and said it would not be subject to further research. Accidents happen, he said, but it was “very unlikely” in this case.
https://archive.ph/bxsV9 https:// www. reuters. com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-china-factbox-idUSKBN2BL2HX
MARCH 29, 2021 / 5:47 PM / UPDATED 2 MONTHS AGO
Factbox: WHO-China report on virus origins says lab leak extremely unlikely
By Reuters Staff
ON LIKELY SOURCES
• direct zoonotic (animal-to-human) spillover is considered to be a possible-to-likely pathway;
• introduction through an intermediate animal host is considered to be a likely to very likely pathway
• introduction through cold/food chain products is considered a possible pathway
• introduction through a laboratory incident was considered to be an extremely unlikely pathway
https://archive.ph/jCb35 https:// www. reuters. com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/origins-covid-19-need-be-investigated-further-leading-scientists-say-2021-05-14/
May 14, 2021 10:24 AM UTC
Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals
COVID-19 lab leak theory cannot be ruled out, leading scientists say
Guy Faulconbridge
The origin of the novel coronavirus is still unclear and the theory that it was caused by a laboratory leak needs to be taken seriously until there is a rigorous data-led investigation that proves it wrong, a group of leading scientists said.
https://archive.ph/aHr8J https:// www. theguardian. com/world/2020/apr/15/trump-us-coronavirus-theory-china
Trump fans flames of Chinese lab coronavirus theory during daily briefing
The president attacked those who favored China, including the WHO, for which he previously announced a hold on funding
David Smith in Washington @smithinamerica
Wed 15 Apr 2020 20.58 EDT
The Pentagon’s top general, Mark Milley, cast doubt on the lab theory earlier this week, saying that US intelligence has looked into the possibility but that the “weight of evidence” thus far pointed towards “natural” origins.
Since the outbreak of the virus in Wuhan in December, more extreme conspiracy theories have suggested that it was engineered as a bioweapon. There is no evidence for this. The scientific journal the Lancet has stated the virus appears to have come from wildlife. An analysis by scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology suggests that the virus’s genome is 96% similar to a coronavirus found in bats.
But the story running prominently on Fox News begins by stating the virus began “not as a bioweapon”, alleging incompetence rather than a malicious attack. This idea has gained more traction, especially among anti-China hardliners in Washington.
https://archive.ph/ucIBL https:// www. theguardian. com/commentisfree/2020/jun/09/conspiracies-covid-19-lab-false-pandemic
Ignore the conspiracy theories: scientists know Covid-19 wasn't created in a lab
Peter Daszak
Instead of following false claims, we should be focusing our efforts on the regions where the next pandemic is likely to emerge
• Peter Daszak is president of EcoHealth Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to analysing and preventing pandemics
Published on Tue 9 Jun 2020 06.14 EDT
Suggestions that Covid-19 is a manmade virus are the latest chapter in a tale of blame, misinformation and finger-pointing. Cue the conspiracy theorists, marching out their narrative about the high-security BSL-4 lab in Wuhan, where mysterious experiments to design “frankenviruses” led to the tragic global pandemic.
https://archive.ph/4jesI https:// www. wired. com/story/if-covid-19-did-start-with-a-lab-leak-would-we-ever-know/
ROGER PIELKE JR.
IDEAS
01.16.2021 10:40 AM
If Covid-19 Did Start With a Lab Leak, Would We Ever Know?
The two major investigations into the origins of the pandemic are compromised by potential conflicts of interest. Those problems need to be fixed—fast.
In the meantime, we’re left to speculate. A long essay by Nicholson Baker, published several weeks ago in New York Magazine, made the case that the pandemic began with a laboratory accident; and while the article has been tarred as an irresponsible, ill-informed and one-sided presentation, even its most ardent critics could concede that the possibility of a lab leak cannot be ruled out with certainty.
There are now two major efforts to investigate where Covid-19 came from: one set up by the World Health Organization, and the other organized by a leading medical journal, The Lancet. The investigations are expected to take months or even years to complete, and, given the many challenges involved, they may never deliver conclusive answers. It’s already clear, however, that both are compromised by a lack of clear procedures to manage conflicts of interest and questionable independence. Now it is imperative that governments and the scientific community act quickly to improve them.
For instance, both investigations include Peter Daszak, disease ecologist and president of the EcoHealth Alliance, a research nonprofit with a history of conducting research into SARS-related coronaviruses and their effects on humans, including collaborative work done at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The Wuhan Institute happens to be the only laboratory in China that is allowed to work with the world’s most dangerous pathogens, and it’s located at the apparent ground zero of the current outbreak.
If there were a lab leak—and, again, most experts do not believe that the available evidence points in this direction—then both the Wuhan Institute and its US partner would be on a short list of candidates to investigate. It should be obvious that no one with any connection to either organization can play a formal role in any truly independent investigation into the pandemic’s origins. (Of course their expert input could and should be solicited through other means.)
Meanwhile, on Nov. 23, 2020, the other investigation, set up by The Lancet, convened a 12-person task force to look into the pandemic’s origins, chaired by Daszak. Among the other members are five more signatories to the EcoHealth Alliance letter from last February, which means that fully half of this team had already suggested that any lab-leak hypothesis was a “conspiracy theory” months before their work began.
https://archive.ph/CVaCq https:// www. foxnews. com/media/bloomberg-noah-smith-so-what-coronavirus-lab-leak-wuhan-china
11 May 2021 11:25:16 UTC
Bloomberg columnist deletes tweet saying 'so what' if COVID came from Wuhan lab leak in China
'Just get lost, dorks,' Noah Smith wrote after critics panned his tweet
By Joseph A. Wulfsohn | Fox News
"Question: How much does anyone really care about the 'lab leak' theory?" Smith asked while sharing a Washington Post article. "If we found that the virus did escape from a lab... so what?"
He continued, "Could be a result of unsafe research practices or poor safety procedures... so be safer when doing research?
When asked why he took down the tweet, Smith replied, "Too many people shouting about it. Just get lost, dorks."
https://archive.ph/7BFtG MSNBCVerified account @MSNBC 3:35 AM - 5 May 2020
.@ChrislHayes on the theory that the coronavirus "escaped" from a lab in Wuhan, China:
“The Trump administration is so desperately grasping at straws, trying to find someone to blame, they don't even seem to understand what they themselves are saying.”
https://archive.ph/pDDJP https:// www. msnbc. com/all-in/watch/chris-hayes-on-right-wing-s-escape-from-the-lab-theory-of-coronavirus-origin-83017285850
Chris Hayes on right-wing’s 'escaped from the lab’ theory of coronavirus origin
Chris Hayes: “But the Trump administration is so desperately grasping at straws, trying to find someone to blame, that they don't even seem to understand what they're saying. They just want a convenient scapegoat.” May 5, 2020