The rumour mill has been bubbling since last year about how the coronavirus could have originated and spread to humans.
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The theory that the virus might have originated in a laboratory came up very early on. Even after numerous investigations, the CIA still cannot rule out a laboratory accident.
After a senior WHO investigator became entangled in contradictions, the laboratory theory suddenly seems very likely, according to some people with expertise.
WHO investigator contradicts himself
The G7 countries are calling for a brand new investigation into the Wuhan case after their meeting a few days ago. The impetus for this comes from WHO investigator Peter Daszak.
The British zoologist and supposed spokesman of the international investigation team made a statement a while ago on the keeping of bats for analysis purposes:
No bats were sent to the Wuhan lab for genetic analysis of viruses, that's not how science works. We only collect samples. We release them where we catch them.
However, Australian investigative journalist Sharri Markson has revealed new evidence that researchers kept bats in cages at the Wuhan lab.
This, and a researcher's claim that the team had around 15,000 DNA samples of the animals, can be seen in a video from 2017 that the activist group called Drastic was able to investigate.
Previous examinations not valid
On 1 June, Daszak wrote on Twitter that the Chinese researchers were not even asked about breeding bats in the WHO investigation and that it was quite possible.
According to him, this would not be unusual. However, this contradicts his original statement. The real problem though lies in the investigations themselves.
The investigations that different teams have conducted so far have not been done on a free and independent basis. Instead, China has been involved in every investigation.
At last count, the investigation committee consisted of 17 Chinese and 17 international researchers—four of the international ones were not even on site for the examination.
'The lab leak theory becomes more and more probable'
Hamburg scientist Professor Roland Wiesendanger tells BILD what many of his colleagues in the scientific community are now thinking:
If a zoonosis, i.e. a transmission of coronaviruses from bats to humans, should have occurred in the centre of the city of Wuhan, the new findings make it most likely that it originated in the Wuhan laboratory, since there are no other bats in Wuhan and the surrounding area.
