For the record, Dr. Shi Zhengli has consistently refuted any implication that the coronavirus escaped from the facility at Wuhan. She insists that all personnel were tested and nobody has ever had the virus. She also maintains that it came from somewhere other than the live animal and seafood market.
Here is one of her formal statements on the matter:
Q: The Wuhan Institute of Virology has received worldwide attention as the possible source of SARS-CoV-2. President Donald Trump has said he has “high confidence” the virus came from the lab. What kind of an impact has this had on your lab? And on you personally?
A: We first received the clinical samples of SARS-CoV-2 on December 30 2019, which were called back then samples of “pneumonia with unknown etiology”. Subsequently, we rapidly conducted research in parallel with other domestic institutions, and quickly identified the pathogen. The complete genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2 was submitted and published via WHO on January 12. Before that, we had never been in contact with or studied this virus, nor did we know of its existence.
Scientists from around the world have overwhelmingly concluded that SARS-CoV-2 originated naturally rather than from any institution. The US President Trump’s claim that SARS-CoV-2 was leaked from our institute totally contradicts the facts. It jeopardizes and affects our academic work and personal life. He owes us an apology.
The AP has run countless articles following this development. You can see one related to this here. You can download a pdf of Dr. Shi Zhengli’s responses here.
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