The French Academy of Medicine, in a new report, asserts that COVID-19's origin is likely a laboratory error, with 97% of its members supporting this conclusion. This adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting a non-natural origin for the pandemic.
The report highlights concerns about the Wuhan lab's insufficient bioprotection, urging researchers to adopt a "culture of risk and responsibility." While not offering definitive proof, it strengthens the case against a natural origin.
The CIA previously stated a similar conclusion, albeit with low confidence, while China vehemently denies the lab leak theory, calling it political manipulation. The lack of Chinese cooperation hampers international investigation efforts.
Ninety-seven percent of the members of the French Academy of Medicine believe that Covid-19 originated from a laboratory error, the president of France’s Covid-19 Scientific Council, Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, announced during a press conference on Wednesday.
The nearly unanimous vote was included in a new report from the Academy of Medicine which assessed the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Delfraissy suggested that “lessons must be learned” from the 2019 disaster to ensure “precautions in the future.”
The academy, Académie Nationale de Médecine in French, was founded in 1820 and is one of the country’s most preeminent medical bodies. A non-government organization, it advises the French government on health issues much as the American Medical Association offers input to the American government in the United States.
During Wednesday’s press conference, one of the report’s co-authors, Christine Rouzioux, noted the academy’s finding that the laboratory in Wuhan was “insufficient in terms of bioprotection of personnel and the environment.” She urged scientists to develop “a culture of risk and responsibility” and lamented that “risks are underestimated by a number of researchers.”
Although the report does not offer a definitive explanation for Covid-19’s origins, it adds to the mounting evidence that the highly contagious disease did not originate naturally.
In January, the CIA claimed that Covid-19 was “more likely” to have leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, than to have originated from animals. Officials noted that the finding did not suggest a new “smoking gun” but reflected analysis on existing data. The intelligence agency, however, warned that it had “low confidence” in its conclusion.
China’s foreign ministry rejected the CIA’s assessment, stating that “The conclusion that a laboratory leak is extremely unlikely was reached by the China-WHO joint expert team based on field visits to relevant laboratories in Wuhan,” spokeswoman Mao Ning said. “This has been widely recognized by the international community and the scientific community.”
China has long denied that the disease stemmed from a lab leak, denouncing the hypothesis as “political manipulation” by Washington. American officials, on the other hand, have claimed that the government is unlikely to come to a definitive conclusion on the origins of the virus without greater cooperation from China. Beijing has long pushed against probes by the international community.
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