Amid mounting suspicion of a possible virus leak in a lab accident, Wuhan Institute of Virology has been nominated for China's top science award, according to a local media outlet Sina News. The Chinese Academy of Sciences reportedly nominated the Wuhan Institute of Virology for conducting "the most comprehensive and systematic identification research on the aetiology of Covid-19."
"The project's results have laid an important foundation and platform for the follow-up research on the origin, epidemiology, and pathogenic mechanism of the Covid-19 virus," the Chinese Academy of Sciences was quoted as saying in multiple reports.
Shi Zhengli, who directs the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, also received a special mention from the academy. Last year, Shi, known as batwoman for her work on coronaviruses in bats, said that Sars-CoV-2 was just “the tip of the iceberg” and called for an advanced study of the unknown viruses. However, the virologist has repeatedly dismissed the claims of a possible lab leak.
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The hypothesis of the introduction of SARS-CoV-2 through a laboratory incident has gained credence in recent weeks, with a renewed demand for a new “transparent” investigation into the virus origin. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which moved a laboratory on December 2, 2019, denied disruptions or incidents caused by the move.
{{/usCountry}}The hypothesis of the introduction of SARS-CoV-2 through a laboratory incident has gained credence in recent weeks, with a renewed demand for a new “transparent” investigation into the virus origin. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which moved a laboratory on December 2, 2019, denied disruptions or incidents caused by the move.
{{/usCountry}}China has now been trying to put blame on the United States for the devastating pandemic after the US National Institutes for Health (NIH) published a study that showed at least seven people in five states were infected with Sars-CoV-2 weeks before the country reported its first official cases. Zeng Guang, the chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has demanded the second phase of investigation into the origins of Covid-19 should be conducted in the United States.
"All bio-weapons related subjects that the country has should be subject to scrutiny," state-run Global Times quoted Zeng as saying.