US’ top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci has said he is “not convinced” Covid-19 developed naturally, and has called for an open investigation into China to unravel the virus’ origins, the media reported.
Fauci was asked during a Poynter event, “United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking”, earlier this month, about whether he was confident that Covid developed naturally.
“No actually. I am not convinced about that, I think we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we continue to find out to the best of our ability what happened,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) was quoted as saying, Fox News reported on Sunday.
“Certainly, the people who investigated it say it likely was the emergence from an animal reservoir that then infected individuals, but it could have been something else, and we need to find that out. So, you know, that’s the reason why I said I’m perfectly in favor of any investigation that looks into the origin of the virus,” Fauci added.
The Coronavirus was first reported from the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. Reports have claimed of the virus’ origin from a lab there.
Further, Fauci called for an investigation into China during a Senate hearing last week, the New York Post reported.
“Do you think it’s possible that Covid-19 arose from a lab accident in Wuhan, and should it be fully investigated?” Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), a doctor, asked Fauci during a Senate hearing on May 11.
“That possibility certainly exists, and I am totally in favour of a full investigation of whether that could have happened,” Fauci replied.
Another Senator had claimed that funding through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) had been funneled to the controversial Wuhan Institute of Virology — the Chinese lab that is believed to have played a role in the initial outbreak of Covid-19, the Fox News reported.