The only foreign scientist that worked at the virology lab in Wuhan has spoken about the allegations Covid-19 may have originated from the facility, according to a Bloomberg News exclusive story this week.
Danielle Anderson, an Australian virologist, said she doesn't think the disease was caused by a leak.
Anderson, an expert in bat-borne viruses, worked at the Wuhan Institute of Virology's BSL-4 laboratory until November 2019. As a researcher at the facility - China's first laboratory equipped to handle the world's deadliest pathogens - Anderson gave her insider's perspective on what could have caused the pandemic.
The fact that the facility was located in the same city where the virus was first detected had stoked speculation that the pandemic may have been the result of a laboratory leak. The U.S. and several health agencies have expressed their suspicions of the theory's likelihood, which eventually led to an investigation led by the World Health Organization.
The U.S. has questioned the facility's safety measures and the work that was being done inside. Anderson said during an interview with Bloomberg News that the facility was just like any other high-containment laboratory she had been to in the past. She said there are really no truths to the accusations made regarding the facility's inferior safety protocols.
Anderson said the facility's induction process and its containment procedures were "very, very extensive." She said scientists were required to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge in containment procedures. All personnel were also required to undergo 45 hours of training before they are allowed to work independently.
Anderson, who is now working at Melbourne's Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, said all of the procedures in the Wuhan facility was a "carefully choreographed endeavor" and everyone had to take both a chemical and personal shower before leaving.
Virologist Danielle Anderson paints a very different picture of the Wuhan Institute. https://t.co/NusaafOoYc — BloombergQuint (@BloombergQuint) June 28, 2021
Addressing rumors of people at the facility getting sick, Anderson said no one she knew at the institute was ill toward the end of 2019. She said the facility has a very strict procedure for reporting illnesses.
"If people were sick, I assume that I would have been sick-and I wasn't. I was tested for coronavirus in Singapore before I was vaccinated, and had never had it. There was no chatter. Scientists are gossipy and excited," Anderson said.
When asked if it was possible a laboratory leak caused the pandemic, Anderson said that it was not at all impossible. She pointed out that the SARS virus, which killed more than 700 people in 2002, has escaped secure facilities multiple times.
