US Funded Research in Wuhan Laboratory Reportedly Studied Bats from Cave Where COVID-19 Originated

Amid the continued spread of coronavirus and the conspiracy theories surrounding it, new reports add fuel to the fire as experiments on bats, which came from the cave that was believed to have been the source of SARS-CoV-2, have reportedly been carried out in a laboratory in Wuhan.

The said revelation has reignited the theories that the virus which caused the worldwide pandemic may have been leaked either intentionally or accidentally from the Wuhan Institute of Virology which is in close proximity from the seafood market where the first cases of the outbreak were discovered.

According to a report from Daily Mail, the research institute was doing a study on bats that have been captured from the caves in Yunnan, where the coronavirus strain that causes COVID-19 have supposedly originated.

The said caves are about 1,000 miles away from the ground zero of the coronavirus pandemic.

'Accidental' leak from laboratory should not be ruled out

Scientists suggest that there is a high possibility that the deadly disease came from bats but have been passed to humans through an intermediary animal.

The popular belief is that the virus which was initially described as having similar symptoms with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which also broke out in China last 2003 was transmitted to humans from an animal from the Huanan seafood market late in 2019 after the first cases were reported.

Despite the fact that the scientific community is more inclined to believe the animal market theory, government sources from the United Kingdom have not said that the accidental laboratory leak theory should not be overlooked.

Research on the bats from Yunnan cave was funded by the US Government

According to Mirror, the said experiments that are related to the cave where COVID-19 suspectedly originated was funded with a $3.7 million grant from the United States government.

It was also stated that the funding was by the US National Institutes of Health and that the result of the said study was already published back in November of 2017 entitled, "Discovery of a rich gene pool of bat SARS-related coronaviruses provides new insights into the origin of SARS coronavirus."

Scientists and experts are still uncertain about several aspects surrounding the mystery of the COVID-19 origin. Fresh doubts about it also surfaced after a doctor from Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, Cao Bin found out that 13 of the first 41 that have been infected by the virus did not have anything that linked them to the seafood market.

Chinese Embassy calls out conspiracy theories

Responding to the allegations pointing to the research facility, the Chinese Embassy said that the speculations and conspiracy theories are nothing but "hasty and reckless allegations."

According to the embassy, the said allegations were an attempt to shift the blame on China overlooking the scientific conclusions. It also said that the speculations were irresponsible and will cause harm and panic to the people amidst this worldwide crisis.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also said that the UK is also firm on opposing anything which politicizes the outbreak and agreed with China saying that the origin of the virus should be treated as a scientific issue.