Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
aerial photo of wuhan, china, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak
The attempt by the virology lab in Wuhan, China, to refute claims the coronavirus escaped from the facility is likely to only fuel conspiracy theories. Photograph: Héctor Retamal/AFP via Getty Images
The attempt by the virology lab in Wuhan, China, to refute claims the coronavirus escaped from the facility is likely to only fuel conspiracy theories. Photograph: Héctor Retamal/AFP via Getty Images

Global report: Wuhan lab says its bat strains were not Covid-19 as US nears 100,000 deaths

This article is more than 3 years old

Lab director says Trump claims virus escaped ‘pure fabrication’; fears of US second wave as states relax restrictions for start of summer

The virology lab in Wuhan, the city at the heart of the outbreak, was working on three live strains of bat coronavirus, but none of them match the one that has caused the Covid-19 pandemic, its director has said.

Wang Yanyi, the director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, told Chinese state broadcaster CGTN that the closest genetic match to the virus spreading around the world was only 79.8%, adding that claims made by US president Donald Trump and others that the virus could have leaked from the facility were “pure fabrication”.

She said: “Our institute first received the clinical sample of the unknown pneumonia on December 30 last year … We didn’t have any knowledge before that, nor had we ever encountered, researched or kept the virus. In fact, like everyone else, we didn’t even know the virus existed. How could it have leaked from our lab when we never had it?”

The attempt by the laboratory to refute the claims is nevertheless likely to add more fuel to theories that the coronavirus pandemic came from a lab in Wuhan.

The scientific community has largely rejected theories that the virus came from a lab but the origins of the illness have become increasingly political as questions of accountability have begun to strain China’s diplomatic relations.

Washington has accused China of being responsible for the pandemic and countries like Australia have called for an independent investigation into the causes of the outbreak.

Trump and US secretary of state Mike Pompeo previously claimed to have a “significant amount of evidence” proving the virus came from a lab but Pompeo later backed away from that claim. He said earlier this month in an interview with Breitbart: “We know it began in Wuhan, but we don’t know from where or from whom, and those are important things.”

The interview with Wang comes as China has begun to hit back against accusations it is to blame for the pandemic. On Sunday, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi called on the US and China to work together and condemned “some politicians who ignore basic fact and make up countless lies and conspiracy theories concerning China”.

Public health experts and residents in the US fear a second wave of coronavirus infections as it opens up for summer, just days away from the grim milestone of 100,000 Covid-19 deaths.

The New York Times marked the looming threshold with a front page listing nearly 1,000 Covid-19 death notices, gleaned from hundreds of US papers. The headline spoke of an “incalculable loss”.

Globally there have been more than 5.3 million cases, and 342,000 deaths. The US accounts for more than 1.6 million of those cases.

Trump has previously said the US would see fewer than 100,000 deaths, a claim in contrast to 12 models the CDC uses. Deborah Birx of the White House coronavirus task force has repeatedly asserted the number of deaths by 1 June will be between 100,000 and 240,000 – if mitigation strategies continue.

The Memorial Day long weekend has begun in the US, and every state has relaxed its restrictions to some extent, with many flocking to beaches and outdoor areas on Saturday, snarling roadways and forcing some closures.

In Arizona, holiday travellers flooded Interstate-17, causing a 15-mile traffic jam on the roadway used to reach some of the desert’s most beautiful canyons. Some areas, including Saguaro Lake, became so crowded that authorities had to shut them down.

Trump was spotted playing golf at his Trump National club in northern Virginia on Saturday, a move that attracted some criticism, although it falls under the category of activities encouraged by the president’s White House task force. Trump has been eager to promote the idea that the US is returning to normal, and again tweeted support for untested drug hydroxychloroquine.

In a rain-soaked New York, state governor Andrew Cuomo said up to 10 people would be allowed to attend ceremonies honouring veterans, warning that social distancing and face masks should be part of any plans to get together. “It depends on how people act … You can also have a wholly unsafe gathering of 10 people,” Cuomo said.

Heavy downpours kept crowds down at state beaches in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, which were reopened with governors urging people to stay at least six feet apart.

Minnesota has ended its statewide stay-at-home order despite warnings from nurses that any rise in cases would exhaust its PPE supplies. Outlining the state’s reopening plan, the governor, Tim Walz, said: “It is going to get worse here before it gets better. That is an absolute guarantee.”

This week, 11 states have reported a record number of new Covid-19 cases, according to a Reuters tally. Iowa had a record increase in deaths on Saturday

On Friday, White House coronavirus taskforce member Dr Anthony Fauci said new localised outbreaks were “inevitable” as mitigation measures were relaxed. He said a full-blown second wave could be avoided if the holy grail of containment measures – testing, quarantine and contact tracing – continued to be adhered to. Hours later, Trump ignored health guidance and ordered houses of worship to open for in-person services at the weekend.

In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, faces renewed pressure to resign after new witnesses reported seeing him making a fresh trip hundreds of miles to Durham.

In other global developments:

  • Argentina extended the mandatory lockdown in Buenos Aires until 7 June and tightened some movement restrictions, after a steady increase in the city’s confirmed coronavirus cases in recent days.

  • Brazil registered 965 new deaths on Saturday, taking total fatalities to 22,013, the Health Ministry said. The country now has 347,398 confirmed cases, according to the ministry, up 16,508 from Friday, when it surpassed Russia to become the world’s virus hot spot behind the US.

  • French churches were preparing to hold their first Sunday masses in more than two months after the government bowed to a ruling that they should be reopened. Churches, mosques and synagogues can reopen if appropriate distancing and hygiene rules are applied.

Most viewed

Most viewed