Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CBS News that China has the evidence to determine whether COVID-19 originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
When asked if China knew if COVID-19 leaked from the Wuhan lab, Gottlieb responded, “They would know the answer to the question because they would have blood samples from the workers in that lab.”
“And that’s the evidence that they haven’t made public,” Gottlieb continued. “If, in fact, the blood samples show that a high prevalence of people in that lab have been exposed to this virus, that’s pretty definitive proof that this coursed through that lab. And they would also have the samples from the time that they were first drawn, which was the time when they had those illnesses. There’s no question that when they had an outbreak of an illness in that lab that they would have done routine blood sampling in that lab. That’s just normal controls in a lab of that quality. So they would have that information.”
Gottlieb also pointed out in the interview that “these kinds of lab leaks happen all the time,” and the last known outbreak that resulted from a lab leak in China was originally hidden by China until journalists proved its origins.
“These kinds of lab leaks happen all the time, actually. Even here in the United States, we’ve had mishaps,” Gottlieb said. “And in China, the last six known outbreaks of SARS-1 have been out of labs, including the last known outbreak, which was a pretty extensive outbreak that China initially wouldn’t disclose that it came out of lab. It was only for — it was only disclosed finally by some journalists who were able to trace that outbreak back to a laboratory.”
Gottlieb’s statements come as numerous officials who were involved with the handling of COVID-19 in the United States, like former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Dr. Anthony Fauci, have recently suggested that the COVID-19 outbreak was a result of a lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Fox News reported, “While it is widely accepted that the pandemic originated in Wuhan, it has been debated whether it originated in a nearby wet market or the secretive institute. The Trump administration promoted the lab leak theory, but it was downplayed by media outlets and some experts, who declared it a conspiracy theory.”
“But it has gained traction again in recent weeks, particularly after China has stonewalled a World Health Organization investigation into the origins of the virus, and reports that multiple [Wuhan Institute of Virology] lab workers were hospitalized in November [2019] with COVID-like symptoms,” Fox News added.
