GLOBALIZATION »» CHINA »» COVID-19 ACCOUNTABILITY »» Aug 30, 2021

We first learned of the Coronavirus virus shortly after a cluster of severe pneumonia cases were reported in the city of Wuhan, China at the end of 2019. In a few weeks, person-to-person spread of the virus was reported worldwide. China claims COVID-19 originated at a crowded Wuhan wet market where customers buy fresh meat and fish, including live animals that are slaughtered when purchased. These crowded conditions can allow viruses from different animals to exchange genes and sometimes the virus mutates to the point it can infect and spread among people. Bats carry many coronaviruses and in the past 20 years several disease outbreaks have been linked to these bat-borne viruses. Presumably, this was the origin of COVID-19, as bats are sold there. However, The Wuhan Institute of Virology - the first laboratory in China to receive the highest level of biosafety clearance – is located in close proximity to the wet market. This facility conducts research on some of the most dangerous known viruses, including the Ebola, Nipah and Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever viruses. Initial investigations have shown the pandemic virus was not genetically engineered, but researchers now know it was modified. Nevertheless, many people blame China for this global pandemic because it withheld the fact that the virus was capable of human-to-human transmission, and the Chinese government failed to stop its spread - allowing air travel to continue unabated while they were battling the outbreak. A recent U.S. intelligence report disclosed that three researchers from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology sought hospital care in November 2019 for COVID-like symptoms, a month before China reported the first cases of the pandemic. In addition, much circumstantial evidence has also recently surfaced which has changed many people’s minds about China’s culpability and who now believe its lab was the likely origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pending Legislation: H.R.2273 - Chinese Government COVID–19 Accountability Act Sponsor: Rep. Gregory Steube (FL) Status: House Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia and Nonproliferation (Foreign Affairs) Chair: Rep. Ami Bera (CA)