'Lab leak' theory critics pressured

Scientists and research institutions around the world are under increasing pressure for denouncing the conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was leaked from a lab, according to a recent article published in Hong Kong news website min.news.

The article cited a number of public health experts and scientists who were pressured and threatened for disputing the "lab leak" theory.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to the US president, faced criticism and calls to resign.

Additionally, Peter Daszak, a British zoologist and member of the World Health Organization mission team to Wuhan, was removed from the COVID-19 commission looking into the origins of the pandemic. Edward Holmes, an evolutionary biologist and professor at the University of Sydney, also became a target of unrelenting online attacks.

The article said US intelligence agencies have never found any solid evidence on lab leaks, and more and more scientists have spoken out against the conspiracy theory.

As there have been resurgences in COVID-19 cases in many parts of the world, it added that the rumormongering and politicization of COVID-19 must stop in order for science to prevail.

Xinhua