WASHINGTON
The House Oversight Committee’s ad hoc subcommittee on pandemic affairs held its first hearing on Wednesday (March 8) to investigate the origin of the new coronavirus after some U.S. government agencies recently made assessments that the virus likely came from a laboratory leak . Former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Robert Redfield testified that, unlike other health officials at the time, he believes to this day that the novel coronavirus was more likely a laboratory accident Give way. Former White House official Jamie Metzl accused China of obstructing the international community’s investigation of the origin of the new crown at the hearing, which led to today’s situation.
Brad Wenstrup, chairman of the House Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Pandemic Affairs, said in opening remarks that the committee is holding its first hearing to ask a fundamental question that failed to be asked three years ago: Where did the coronavirus come from? ? Is it from nature or from the laboratory? The question, he said, is critical to helping us predict and prevent future pandemics, protect our health and national security, and prepare America for the future.
Subcommittee Chairman: The origin of the new crown is not yet known, there is no conclusive evidence
“I think we have established that this ad hoc subcommittee will try to find the truth on this issue as much as possible. Unfortunately, the issue of the origin of the new crown has been politically It’s not a secret. It’s cornering most people instead of advancing apolitical, scientific debate or discussion,” Winstop said.
The former podiatrist and Republican congressman from Ohio said of the origin of the new crown virus, said, “The truth is, we don’t know the origin of the new crown yet. We don’t have conclusive evidence.”
Former White House National Security Council multilateral affairs director Mezer believes that more and more indirect evidence shows that the virus may come from a laboratory.
“While the question of the origin of this pandemic remains open, there is no doubt that a research-related origin remains a very serious possibility, if not an obvious one,” he testified at the meeting. Find the ‘smoking gun’ (meaning direct conclusive evidence of the crime) that proves the laboratory origin hypothesis, but more and more circumstantial evidence suggests that the gun is at least hot to the touch.” Former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
Director: The virus was and is believed to have come from a lab Origins still matter, and he stands by his views on the subject.
“From the earliest days of this pandemic, my view has been that both of these theories about the origin of COVID-19 need to be robustly and thoroughly examined. Based on my initial analysis of the data, I came to believe, and still do today We believe that this shows that the new coronavirus is more likely the result of an accidental laboratory release than a natural spillover event. This conclusion is mainly based on the biology of the virus itself, including its rapid and high infectivity among humans, while This in turn predicts the rapid evolution of new variants, as well as some other important factors, including some unusual actions in and around the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the fall of 2019,” he said.
Witness Democrats Invite Witnesses invited by Republicans take a different view. He stressed that there is currently no consensus on the issue.
“The investigation is ongoing. There is no consensus yet on the origin of the virus. The DOE concludes with low confidence that the virus escaped from a laboratory in China based on classified information not available to the public. The FBI concludes with a moderate Confidence draws its conclusions. Many virologists, on the other hand, believe there is convincing evidence that the virus originated in animals. They conclude that the coronavirus most likely jumped from caged wild animals to fish markets. people. We may never know the origin with certainty. Making claims that are not fully supported by available data will only fuel confusion and mistrust,” he said.
Responding to a question from lawmakers, the medical expert said not all viruses, such as Ebola, have found their origin.
Mezel, who is currently a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, publicly called for a full investigation into the origin of the new crown at the beginning of the outbreak, including the possibility that the virus came from an accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Top U.S. health officials have deliberately suppressed the argument that the virus came from a laboratory?
During the hearing, Republican lawmakers, including the chairman of the subcommittee, repeatedly mentioned that top health officials in the United States at the time seemed intent on suppressing the argument that the virus came from a laboratory.
“For reasons we don’t yet know, the leaders of the scientific community took action at that time to try to convince the world that they shouldn’t take the lab leak theory seriously,” Winstop said. Long) Dr. Francis Collins said he was more concerned with harm to international harmony than investigating the lab leak. (Then director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) Dr. Anthony Fauci said , lab leak theory is one thing that is getting attention now but will fade over time. Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance, curated a letter published in The Lancet , calling the lab leak a conspiracy theory that directly benefits Dr. Daszak himself.” Rep.
Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor, R-Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene accused Dr. Fauci and others of deliberately “covering up” the origin of the virus because the National Institutes of Health funded the Wuhan Institute of Virology through the EcoHealth Alliance to conduct “gain-of-function” research.
Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Pandemic Affairs, suggested in a statement at the start of the hearing that some Republicans were saying The extreme partisan speech is to slander some public health experts recognized by the United States.
Rep. Ruiz, a former emergency physician, said: “Since the initial outbreak of COVID-19, researchers in the scientific community have worked tirelessly to assess the virus and improve our understanding of its origin. Dozens of a study to assess this issue. Under the direction and leadership of President Biden, the intelligence community launched a comprehensive assessment to conduct a thorough investigation into the origin of the virus. The truth is, the evidence remains inconclusive. Therefore, we Our scientists and the intelligence community must be allowed to gather evidence without allegations of politicization, extreme partisan rhetoric, or conspiracy theories that discredit our nation’s public health experts.”
Ruiz and other Democratic lawmakers emphasized at the hearing that the committee should look forward and focus on developing policies to prevent and reduce the harm of future viruses and pandemics.
Expert witness: China blocked efforts
to trace the origin of the new crown Former White House official and Atlantic Council’s Mezer said at the hearing that China should be the focus of attention. He accused China of obstructing the international community’s efforts to trace the origin of the new crown, so people still don’t know where the virus came from today.
“The main reason we are here is because the Chinese government has done everything in its power to prevent an investigation into the origins of the pandemic, which is three years too late but still desperately needed,” he said.
He went on to say, “Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Chinese government has destroyed samples, hidden records, jailed brave Chinese journalists, silenced Chinese scientists, actively spread misinformation, and has done everything possible to prevent This unfettered, evidence-based investigation that is so urgently needed. Everyone on the planet must hold China accountable for this.”
Mezel also said, calling for a full investigation into the origins of the pandemic in China and Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t scrutinize the behavior of America itself and America’s friends and allies. “In fact, we have to,” he said
, calling for a cross-party national commission to investigate the origins of the coronavirus.
Subcommittee Chairman Winstrup also said at the end of the hearing that all possibilities need to be considered.
He said: “I hope this thing comes from nature. I’ll be happy. Because that’s better for all of us. But I look at this thing and can’t help but say there’s another possibility here. When I When I think about this other possibility, it leads me, based on my lived experience, to think of many evil things that can happen to us as human beings. It’s a national security issue. It’s a national health issue.”
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