SCIO press conference on COVID-19 origin tracing
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E-mail China.org.cn, July 25, 2021
Yuan Zhiming:
The WIV has responded many times to the coronavirus lab leak rumors. Right now, Mr. Zeng elaborated on the same issue, and now I would like to add something.
It has become an academic consensus that the COVID-19 virus evolved in nature. On July 5, 2021, 24 leading experts from around the world published an article again in The Lancet medical journal, noting that the coronavirus Chinese lab leak theory remains without scientifically validated evidence. On July 7, 2021, scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia released a preprint paper in Zenodo, a research data sharing platform in Europe, in which they wrote, "There is currently no evidence that SARS-CoV-2 has a laboratory origin. There is no evidence that any early cases had any connection to the WIV, … nor evidence that the WIV possessed or worked on a progenitor of SARS-CoV-2 prior to the pandemic." A few days ago, in a joint paper published in the journal Science China: Life Sciences, 22 Chinese and overseas scientists applied a classic evolutionary theory to elaborate why SARS-CoV-2 could only come from nature, rather than being man-made. Using scientific evidence, they refuted the lab leak conspiracy theory on the origin of the virus.
I have also noticed that some media have paid great attention to the safety of the Wuhan P4 lab. As a laboratory with the highest level of biosafety, precaution and protection, the Wuhan P4 lab has never seen any laboratory leaks or human infections since it began operating in 2018. Designed, constructed and run in line with both international requirements and domestic standards, the Wuhan P4 lab has stable and reliable biosafety precautions in place, and has established a set of complete biosafety management systems and a professional team to bolster, manage and maintain its operation. I can assure you that the infrastructure, management, team composition and working protocols at the Wuhan P4 lab are the same as other P4 labs in operation around the world. There were media reports that three researchers at the WIV went to the hospital in November 2019 with all the same symptoms as COVID 19. These reports were created out of thin air. It would have been very simple for us to know the truth if the reporters had provided us with the names of these alleged researchers. In fact, we have long proposed the solution, but received no response to date.
What I want to emphasize is that first, before December 30, 2019, the WIV didn't come into contact with, preserve or study SARS-CoV-2; second, the WIV never designed, manufactured or leaked the virus; third, none of the WIV staff members and graduate students have ever been infected with the virus so far.
Facing the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, the WIV, leveraging its long-accumulated advantages in platforms, technologies and talent, quickly identified the virus as a new coronavirus and isolated the virus strain. The institute also sequenced the whole genome of the virus and submitted the genome sequence to the WHO under the United Nations on January 12, 2020. These important research results have provided bases for global respiratory pathogen testing, antiviral drug screening and vaccine research, and bought time for the global fight against the pandemic. After the virus strain was isolated, we organized tasks of antiviral drug screening, vaccine research and animal model construction, which effectively supported the scientific and technological response to the pandemic.
Certainly, due to its location in Wuhan and its work in fighting the epidemic, the WIV has attracted global attention and been embroiled in various kinds of rumors. These rumors have exerted great pressure upon the researchers at the institute, interfered with some of our normal scientific research, and brought negative impacts on normal academic exchanges and sci-tech cooperation in the international academic community.
Facing the still raging pandemic, no country can stay immune. Only global cooperation and coordinated action can effectively contain the spread of the virus and restore prosperity and harmony to people around the world. Adopting the attitude of openness and transparency, the WIV is ready to keep working with scientists to contribute to the fight against COVID-19. Thank you.
Liang Wannian:
I would like to add something. During January and February this year, the WHO-China joint expert team, while studying the origins of the virus, put forward four different possible or potential pathways for the introduction of the virus, one among which was through a laboratory incident. The four pathways were proposed based on our past experience and understanding of viruses, especially the coronavirus-related diseases. The four routes include the direct introduction from a natural host to humans; the introduction through wild animals and an intermediate host to humans from a natural host; a cross-border long distance introduction through cold chains; and an introduction through a laboratory incident. All the four routes are called "potential introduction pathways." How did we assess them? At that time, the whole study was centered on these four routes to collect materials, including carrying out interviews, literature reviews and field inspections.
I will focus on laboratory-related hypotheses. At the beginning, after discussion, the expert team basically thought that laboratory incidents may occur most likely in two cases. One is artificial synthesis, which scientists explicitly find impossible. The other is leakage and the most important point in this regard is whether the laboratory had the virus or not. The answer is that the WIV didn't engaged in such research before, as Mr. Zeng and Mr. Yuan clearly explained just now. The scientific community and the Wuhan side have made it clear as well. However, for further validation, the expert team specially went to the WIV to get details, and conducted field inspections with relevant researchers and management staff. We obtained information particularly about the institute's implementation of standard processes, management and security systems, and about research projects the institute was and is engaged in. Then, we came back and discussed again. We talked about evidence that supported the lab incident and evidence that didn't. The detailed information is recorded in the report on the joint WHO-China study of COVID-19 origins, which was published on the official website of the WHO on March 30. The details about our inspection to the WIV are also included in this report. You are welcome to read it. We finally concluded that the introduction through a laboratory incident was "extremely unlikely."
When we were assessing the possibilities, we adopted a five-scale system. Because it's not easy to tell whether there is a possibility or not. It is not easy to determine whether a possibility absolutely exists or absolutely doesn't. So, we adopted a semi-quantitative method to conduct this assessment by utilizing continuous variables, in which we graded the virus' four possible pathways of introduction with the five rankings of 'very likely,' 'likely,' 'possible,' 'unlikely,' and 'extremely unlikely.' As for the possibility of a lab leak, our experts reached a final consensus that it is 'extremely unlikely.' As we were discussing the issue and finalizing the joint report, we offered relatively clear advice and recommendations for further studies regarding other possible pathways of introduction of the virus, including direct zoonotic transmission, introduction through an intermediate host followed by zoonotic transmission, and introduction through the cold food chain. This advice and recommendations include the objectives, emphases, and methodologies for further studies. However, we think that introduction through a laboratory incident is 'extremely unlikely,' therefore, it is no longer necessary to continue to devote energy and resources to study this hypothesis. Of course, we don't exclude the possibility of new evidence emerging. In that case, further studies can be conducted. If certain countries need to do further studies on this aspect, we suggest, from the point of view of the Chinese experts, that the studies be conducted in countries that haven't undergone lab inspections like the ones conducted in Wuhan, to at least gain more understanding of possible leaks there, which actually gives rise to safety issues. Together, our experts carried out a relatively thorough exploration and inspection of the Wuhan lab and reached the conclusion that it is 'extremely unlikely' to be the pathway of introduction of the virus.
That's all I want to add, thank you.
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