China’s Covid lie exposed: Time to hold Xi accountable

World

The origin of Covid-19 pandemic that has ravaged the world remains a widely debated topic and a source of controversy and political tension between China, United States and world in general, with much focus on the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), located in Wuhan where the outbreak was first identified in late 2019. Some scientists and politicians continue to maintain that the possibility of a lab leak of the deadly virus exists. Millions are dead from the Wuhan virus but even after two years since the pandemic hit, China refused to take accountability.

In the past few days, the theory that the virus emerged from the WIV in China, which was once dismissed, has suddenly gained steam with US President Joe Biden ordering officials to increase their efforts to probe the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic. In response, China has accused the US of “spreading conspiracy theories” and has asked Joe Biden to open its own virology facilities to scrutiny. This came amid growing demands for a full scale probe of whether the coronavirus may have escaped from China’s bio lab.

The World Health Organisation report issued on March 30 said the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal, and that a lab leak was “extremely unlikely” as a cause. WHO chief said data had been withheld from the team and that the lab issue required further investigation. This was followed by an open letter to WHO by prominent scientists who called for a new investigation into the origins of the virus. Investigation suggests evidences after evidences mounting to give credence to the Wuhan lab leak theory but china has shrugged its shoulders and gone back to business.

“The origin of the novel coronavirus is still unclear and the theory that it was caused by a laboratory leak needs to be taken seriously until there is a rigorous data-led investigation that proves it wrong,” a group of leading scientists said.