"Senior Biden.. officials overseeing an intelligence review into the origins of the coronavirus now believe the theory that the virus accidentally escaped from a lab in Wuhan is at least as credible as the possibility that it emerged naturally in the wild"
cnn.com/2021/07/16/pol…
"source.. said.. top.. officials, including Sullivan, view the accidental lab leak theory as equally plausible to the natural origins theory. Intelligence agencies that were skeptical of the lab leak theory a year ago, like the CIA, also now view it as a credible line of inquiry"
"person familiar with the probe said.. any final assessment will likely lay out both theories and evaluate their pros and cons. The source said the relationship with China is too delicate to make an endorsement of one theory over another without smoking gun evidence"
I hope that the results of the 90-day review will be made public promptly. It is due ~August 24 (90 days from May 26).

Even though it likely will not present any smoking gun evidence, I believe it is in the public's interest to know what circumstantial evidence exist.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Alina Chan

Alina Chan Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Ayjchan

17 Jul
Looking forward to more details on how the “dream team” helped Kristian Andersen shift from 60-70% sure Covid-19 came from a lab to “we do not believe that any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible” and “rules out laboratory manipulation”. thetimes.co.uk/article/sage-a…
Read 11 tweets
17 Jul
In this @Medium post, I counter the claim that there is a substantial body of evidence pointing to a natural origin of COVID-19.

All publicly available evidence and information are consistent with both natural and laboratory origin scenarios.
ayjchan.medium.com/a-response-to-…
Only with more data and information can scientists confidently evaluate the likelihood of each origin hypothesis.

A credible, transparent, evidence-based, and international investigation of the origin of Covid-19 is not only vital but also feasible.
Key points:
1. The 2003 epidemic SARS-CoV was quickly traced to proximal animal sources of the virus. Yet, despite greatly improved surveillance technologies and capabilities, an intermediate host for SARS-CoV-2 has still not been found more than 1.5 years.
Read 24 tweets
16 Jul
Opinion by @YanzhongHuang raises concerns about a self-fulfilling bioweapons prophecy (escalating global biodefense research), but I disagree that "reviving" the lab leak hypothesis made a full and transparent #OriginsOfCovid investigation less likely.
thebulletin.org/2021/07/after-…
@YanzhongHuang Many scientists waited to see what the @WHO could do in their joint study with China.

Afterwards, the team leader said "You need to do a formal audit, and that’s far beyond what our team is mandated to do or has the tools and capabilities to do"
sciencemag.org/news/2021/02/p…
@YanzhongHuang @WHO "WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said getting access to raw data had been a challenge for the international team that traveled to China earlier this year to investigate the source of COVID-19."
apnews.com/article/joe-bi…
Read 12 tweets
15 Jul
On the earliest covid cases, WHO is correcting virus sequence IDs & clarifying the 1st cluster was not linked to Huanan Seafood Market, but did not explain why the 1st patient who lived in Wuchang (near WIV) was mapped elsewhere in the WHO-China report.
washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac…
This report suggests to me that the @washingtonpost has a better handle on highly important details of the early covid cases in Wuhan than the @WHO

Can we please have a different organization convene and lead an international investigation into the #OriginsOfCovid ?
We can't have any more unintended editing errors muddling the sequences, locations, and exposure factors of the earliest Covid-19 cases.

This is not conducive to understanding when the virus first emerged and what potential sources might have been.
Read 12 tweets
15 Jul
The wording of this letter by ASM & Partners could have been much more precise rather than scientists rejecting "attempts to impose restrictions on federally funded research... based on premature conclusions about how the pandemic emerged."
asm.org/Articles/Polic…
The title "Don't Restrict Valid Pathogen Research" was not in the letter shared with me, but I agree valid research should not be impacted.

The problem is how do the people in charge decide what is valid pathogen research vs what is pathogen research with more risk than benefit?
I don't know who is signing this letter (it's just a string of associations and societies) and maybe that is for the best.

It will be up to scientists who are members of these associations to ask them why this letter was submitted on their behalf.
Read 7 tweets
14 Jul
For the people who have been following the search for the #OriginsOfCovid the House Science Committee hearing is now discussing questions on the matter (opening remarks by each expert just concluded).

Live video available here!
1st question is about setting ground rules or treaties for the country of origin/first detection to share data in the event of outbreaks.

There are currently only ad hoc international collaborations. One of the best is @ProMED_mail that notifies global members of outbreaks.
@ProMED_mail 2nd question is about @TheLancet @NatureMedicine letters dismissing lab origin hypotheses as conspiracy theories or saying no lab-based scenario is plausible. Were these statements of scientific fact, consensus, or opinion?
Read 30 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(