A report that has recently surfaced online, suggests that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was studying bats that were captured from caves in the Yunnan region.

These caves are being thought as the source of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the report by British website the Daily Mail.

These caves are 1,000 miles away from Wuhan, however, the new evidence accessed by the Mail shows a different story than the official narrative.

While most theories still suggest that the virus originated from a wet market in Wuhan, the fact that this virus may have originated from a lab cannot be ruled out. Most scientists agree the virus was most likely transmitted from bats but it could have passed through another animal before affecting humans.

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A 5-year research paper was published according to the report with the title ‘Discovery of a rich gene pool of bat SARS-related coronaviruses provides new insights into the origin of SARS coronavirus’.



The paper observed that researchers and scientists have been discovering a large number of coronavirus related to SARS in horseshoe bats in different regions of China since 2005. The bats from the Yunnan caves were found to have 11 different types of coronavirus.

The experiments in the lab were part of a project funded by a grant from the US National Institutes of Health. These experiments were being conducted to trace and examine the source of coronaviruses after the SARS break.

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According to the Daily Mail, “According to the paper, the research was: "Bats in a cave in Yunnan, China were captured and sampled for coronaviruses used for lab experiments.



"All sampling procedures were performed by veterinarians with approval from the Animal Ethics Committee of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

"Bat samplings were conducted ten times from April 2011 to October 2015 at different seasons in their natural habitat at a single location (cave) in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. Bats were trapped and faecal swab samples were collected.”

Chinese Officials at the Embassy in the UK have already downplayed this report and called this speculation as “hasty and reckless allegations”. The embassy said ”The origin of a virus is a complicated, scientific issue. It should be left to scientists and doctors to find out through studies and research.”

“Hasty and reckless allegations, such as naming China as the origin in an attempt to shift the blame, before any scientific conclusion is reached, is totally irresponsible and will definitely do harm to international co-operation at this critical time.

“COVID-19 is a global challenge. The right thing to do for every responsible stakeholder, including the media, is to work together and leave no place for rumours or prejudice.”

Source: The Daily Mail

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