The US-China relations have nosedived to the lowest point in decades and President Donald Trump, as well as some US officials, continued to push theories claiming that the Coronavirus was man-made and leaked from a laboratory in China's Wuhan. But the top US scientists and current adviser to Trump Dr Anthony Fauci has dismissed the claims that the deadly virus was created in a Chinese laboratory.
He made this revelation during an interview with the National Geographic magazine while stating that everything about the evolution over time strongly indicates that the Coronavirus has evolved in nature and then jumped species. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that
If you look at the evolution of the virus in bats and what's out there now, [the evidence] is very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated
Here it should be mentioned that earlier the World Health organization emergencies director Michael Ryan also revealed that the Geneva-based agency has not received any data or specific evidence from US government which supports Trump's claims and "so from our perspective, this remains speculative."
Trump's claims about Wuhan lab are not true?
Trump and United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier claimed that they have seen evidence which has shown the link between the SARS-CoV-2 and Chinese state-backed Wuhan Institute of Virology, but none of them revealed any details about the collected evidence.
On the other hand, Pompeo on Sunday said that there is a significant amount of evidence to support that the virus emerged from a Chinese laboratory, even though he did not dispute US intelligence agencies' conclusion that it was not man-made.
As of now, the Wuhan lab has denied all these allegations and China has called the claims "insane", while some US officials have downplayed the likelihood that the accusations are true. However, Trump on Tuesday, May 5 stated that the US would release the reports revealing the origin of the Coronavirus over time, but he did not reveal any other details or when it will be released.
Meanwhile, a top US general, Mark Milley said that it was not clearly known whether the COVID-19 has emerged from a wet market in China or the Wuhan lab or somewhere else.
Even a US researcher, Jonna Mazet, who had worked with Wuhan Institute of Virology and communicated with controversial China's "bat woman" Shi Zhengli, has revealed reasons why a Coronavirus leak from the Chinese lab would be extremely unlikely. She revealed, "I know that we worked together to develop very stringent safety protocol and it's highly unlikely this was a lab accident."
Fauci to testify before US Senate next week
Trump said on Tuesday that his adviser Dr Fauci will appear next week before a panel in US Senate examining the country's Coronavirus response, not in the Democratic-led House of Representatives. While defending the decision to block Fauci from appearing before the House, Trump said that he was being set up by Democrats who hate him and want to win back the White House after the November's Presidential election.
As reported by Politico, the White House has recently issued guidelines that none of the Coronavirus Task Force members or key deputies of the members may accept hearing invitations for the rest of the month. In the report While House chief of staff Mark Meadows was quoted saying that "Exceptions may be made only with the express approval."
It should be noted that the 79-year-old expert, Dr Fauci is expected to appear on May 12 before the Senate Health, Education, and Labor and Pensions committee along with other top US health officials. As per the committee, US' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield and Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Brett Giroir will also testify before the Senate while talking about safety issues related reopening schools and workplace.
However, Fauci earlier warned against a rush to reopen US economy and mentioned that it may have dire consequences down the road, reported CNN. He said "How many deaths and how much suffering are you willing to accept to get back to what you want to be some form of normality sooner rather than later?"
