China appears to confirm that some labs destroyed coronavirus lab samples.

China appears to confirm that some labs destroyed coronavirus lab samples.

Working on samples from coronavirus tests at a laboratory in Wuhan, China, in February.Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A Chinese health official has suggested that some labs destroyed coronavirus samples in the early days of the outbreak, saying that such steps were required for biosafety reasons.

The official, Liu Dengfeng, said at a news briefing on Friday that Chinese law required labs not equipped to handle highly contagious specimens to destroy them to “prevent secondary disasters caused by unknown pathogens.”

Health officials had quickly labeled the coronavirus as “highly pathogenic” after beginning to investigate it in December, said Mr. Liu, a member of China’s National Health Commission.

“Chinese laws have strict requirements for the storage, destruction and study of highly pathogenic samples,” he said. “For laboratories that do not meet the storage standards, the samples should be destroyed or transferred to a professional depository.”

Mr. Liu did not say how those labs would have acquired samples in the first place.

The virus is believed to have emerged in a wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak was first detected. Two research labs in the cityhave been the focus of unproven theories about the outbreak’s origins, but both were high-level biosecurity sites. Mr. Liu did not specify details of any labs that may have destroyed samples.

Several world leaders have questioned China’s transparency and willingness to participate in international inquiries into the virus’s origins. U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have accused China of destroying lab samples when the virus emerged in order to try to conceal the outbreak.

Mr. Pompeo has also backed President Trump’s assertion that the coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan, though intelligence agencies say they have reached no conclusion on the issue.

Chinese officials have aggressively pushed back against the accusations.

Sourch by: New york Times.