Ian Patrick, FISM News
The COVID-19 Wuhan lab leak is looking less and less like a theory.
On Monday, Republicans on the House Affairs Committee released an updated report to their original Origins of COVID-19 report in which they detailed findings from their investigation.
The original report, released in September of 2020, detailed the committee’s findings and how “the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) bears overwhelming responsibility for allowing a local outbreak to become a global pandemic.” This report says that the CCP and its leaders, including Xi Jingping, could have prevented 95% of the original COVID-19 cases in China “had it fulfilled its obligations under international law and implemented a public health response at an earlier date.”
However, as for the actual origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the committee noted at the time that there were “many unanswered questions as to the origins of SARS-CoV-2 . . . and the root of the global pandemic.” The recently added addendum clarifies this previous statement.
The addendum concludes that “the preponderance of evidence suggests SARS-CoV-2 was accidentally released from a Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) laboratory sometime prior to September 12, 2019.” The report indicates that the virus was accidentally leaked due to unsafe conditions and a cover-up by lab workers and the Chinese government began immediately, but was not able to stop the spread of the pandemic.
Read the full Addendum to the Origins of COVID-19 here 👇🏻https://t.co/SBbgWUrxKk
— House Foreign Affairs GOP (@HouseForeignGOP) August 2, 2021
Findings within the report further suggest that the Wuhan Institute of Virology had performed gain-of-function research on samples from bats since 2015, but could not determine if this research had created SARS-Cov-2. However, the Committee believes that the virus spread as early as late August or early September of 2021. This is months before China’s first official announced case of COVID-19.
Furthermore, the Committee said that the 2019 Military World Games was a major reason that the virus spread around the world so quickly. Because these Games were held in Wuhan during late October and early November, and because the Committee’s findings suggest that the virus spread from the lab earlier than China’s official announcement, the virus was potentially able to return home with these military athletes after the Games concluded. In fact, the Committee reports that a child in Italy and water samples in Brazil later tested positive for COVID-19 days before the first official case was announced.
Based on their findings, the Committee recommended several actions that the U.S. government could take as a way of keeping China accountable. Such actions include: banning any funding for gain-of-function research until a standard is set; authorizing a “pandemic prevention, warning, and early detection” organization between the government and private institutions; placing sanctions on the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and “military bioresearch facilities that fail to ensure the appropriate levels of safety and information sharing;” and reviewing visas of Chinese nationals involved in various scientific fields as well as students studying in American institutions to determine if they should be revoked or not.
The Republican committee members are also urging a further investigation into the origins of the virus based on this report.
Until such time as the Chinese Communist Party lifts its self-imposed veil of secrecy, explains its lies regarding the early stages of the pandemic, and provides access to the WIV’s archives and sample database, questions will remain as to the origins of SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Until that day, it is incumbent upon the United States and likeminded countries around the world to ensure accountability, and implement the reforms necessary to prevent the CCP’s malfeasance from giving rise to a third pandemic during the 21st century.