Bat-borne coronaviruses expert Danielle Anderson, who worked at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, has spoken up, saying the COVID-19 leak at the Wuhan lab is possible.
Specifically, according to a report from The Sun, the expert was working at the WIV just a few weeks before the first identified COVID-19 cases emerged in China.
Anderson, an Australian scientist, this report added, had a front-row seat in the weeks just prior to the occurrence of the pandemic, with her stint at WIV that officially ended in November 2019, with China admitting to the new virus about a month after, on New Year's Eve.
The high-security facility has turned out to be what this report describes as "the eye of a storm" since many are suspecting the virus could have, in a way, leaked from its labs and continued killing nearly four million people globally.
Leak Theory's More 'Elaborate Version'
While the scientist acknowledges the possibility of the virus that could have escaped from the lab, she believes it is extremely doubtful, supported the natural origin theory, and said a full investigation is necessary into the origin of COVID-19.
In a Bloomberg report, Anderson said that she could predict how things could possibly take place. She also said she is not naïve enough to say, "I absolutely write this off."
Nonetheless, she is convinced that no virus was deliberately made to infect humans and be released, the lab more elaborate version of the COVID-19 leak theory that has been hyped by some.
This theory's more common version is that of an accident, like, a researcher may have been infected inside the lab, or there could have been improper disposal of waste and allowed the escape of the virus.
Reportedly, Anderson rated the possibility of a researcher getting infected as very slim, although she did acknowledge she could not rule it out and admitted she does not know what everyone in the lab was examining at that time.
COVID-19 Leak in the Lab
The lab leak theory has stepped from being dismissed by some as a conspiracy theory to being taken seriously by the world's intelligence agencies and many in the scientific community.
Circumstantial evidence increases, which appears to link the virus to the lab, but thus far, no so-called "smoking gun" evidence has been identified, and the more standard opinion has stayed that the virus came from nature.
The apparent cover-up of China, nonetheless, as well as allegations that the country withheld key information early in the pandemic has only ignited more fire, observers said, although Beijing has continued denying all wrongdoing over COVID-19.
This Australian scientist worked out of the biosecurity level 4 lab of WIV, the first in China equipped to handle the deadliest pathogens of the world. She worked alongside Chinese scientist Dr. Shi Zhengli, also known as the Batwoman.
The Bloomberg report also specified, Anderson describes the lab's reports as "half-truths" and distorted information. She also claimed the work in the said lab was routine adding; she did not mean it was boring, although it was a regular lab that works in a similar way as any other high-containment laboratory. What people are saying, she continued, is just not how it is.
History of Lab Leaks
Beijing has a history of lab leaks in which fatal viruses have accidentally escaped, and critics have underscored what they claim as a "gung-ho" technique to safety.
In 2004, the Nature Public Health Emergency Collection published a study about a severe acute respiratory syndrome that escaped Beijing lab twice.
China, on the other hand, has accused the United States of politicizing by stirring up lab leaks and has even tried to switch the focus to the American bio labs.
It occurred in May 2021, when Wuhan lab staff turned ill and required hospital care weeks before China admitted it was experiencing an outbreak, the US intelligence said.
No evidence is currently suggesting that the COVID-19 virus was deliberately released by China. More so, experts have claimed that the truth about this deadly disease could result in "national shame" to China.
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