China: Wuhan lab contains three bat coronaviruses



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Most scientists believe that the virus that causes COVID-19, which first appeared in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, has already carried more than 340,000. lives, transmitted to humans from bats through some other mammal, perhaps in the Wuhan market, where meat from exotic animals is sold.

United States President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have accused China of lack of transparency on the matter and have repeatedly announced the theory that the virus originated in the Wuhan maximum security laboratory.

But the director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology told the state broadcaster CGTN that the statements by the US president. USA And other officials were “pure fiction.”

In an interview filmed on May 13 but shown on Saturday night, Wang Yanyi said his center had “isolated and received some bat coronaviruses.”

“We now have three live virus strains … But their closest resemblance to SARS-CoV-2 is only 79.8 percent,” he noted.

One of the institute’s research teams, led by Professor Shi Zhengli, has been investigating bat coronaviruses since 2004, focusing on “tracking SARS sources.”

Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS / SARS) emerged in southern China in November 2002 and developed into a health crisis in mid-2003 that particularly affected Asia. The virus killed 774 people, four-fifths of which were in China and Hong Kong.

“We know that the entire SARS-CoV-2 genome is only 80 percent. similar to SARS [sukėlėjo] Genome The difference is obvious, said Wang Yanyi. “Therefore, Professor Shi’s previous research has not focused on viruses that are less similar to the SARS virus.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (Vang I) said on Sunday that his country was “open” to international cooperation to identify a new source of the coronavirus, but the investigation must be carried out “without any political interference.”

The minister attacked what he called the efforts of American politicians to “fabricate rumors” about the pathogen’s origin and “stigmatize China.”

The World Health Organization (WHO), the USA. USA And Australia has called in recent weeks for an investigation into the origin of the pandemic.

“China is open to working with the international scientific community to discover the source of the virus,” Wang Yi said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the Chinese parliament, the National People’s Congress.

“At the same time, we believe that you should be professional, honest and constructive,” he added.

“Integrity means that there should be no political interference in the process, [turi būti] The sovereignty of all countries is respected and any presumption of guilt is opposed, “said the minister.

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