US Senator Tom Cotton repeated a fringe theory suggesting that the ongoing spread of a coronavirus is connected to research in the disease-ravaged epicenter of Wuhan, China.
Mr Cotton referenced a laboratory in the city, the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory, in an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” He said the lab was near a market some scientists initially thought was a starting point for the virus’s spread.
“We don’t know where it originated, and we have to get to the bottom of that,” Senator Cotton said. “We also know that just a few miles away from that food market is China’s only biosafety level 4 super laboratory that researches human infectious diseases.”
Yet Mr Cotton acknowledged that there is no eence that the disease originated at the lab. Instead, he suggested it’s necessary to ask Chinese authorities about the possibility, fanning the embers of a conspiracy theory that has been repeatedly debunked by experts.
“Now, we don’t have eence that this disease originated there, but because of China’s duplicity and dishonesty from the beginning, we need to at least ask the question to see what the eence says,” Mr Cotton said. “And China right now is not giving any eence on that question at all.”
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Paramedics wearing personal protective equipment carry patient on a stretcher on to an ambulance in North Point district in Hong Kong, China
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A medical worker wearing protective gear takes a rest as he waits for ambulances carrying patients infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at an entrance of a hospital in Daegu, South Korea
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A medical worker sprays disinfectant on an ambulance after carrying a patient infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Daegu
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
People wearing protective face masks shop at a supermarket in Casalpusterlengo, one the northern Italian towns placed under lockdown due to the new coronavirus outbreak
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A trolley bus is disinfected amid fears over the spread of the novel coronavirus in Pyongyang, North Korea
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as a precaution against the COVID-19 coronavirus in a local market in Daegu, South Korea
AP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A man wearing a protective facemask walks outside a nearly empty shopping mall at lunch time in Beijing
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A man wearing protective facemask and gloves puts a drawing made by a girl living in the area asking residents to wear protective gear, next to a quarantine notice for people who have travelled and a notice asking people to register outside a residential compound in Beijing
AFP via
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A woman is taken into an ambulance amid a coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy
REUTERS
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Ambulances and health workers are seen outside the Padua’s hospital, northern Italy
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Passengers in coaches leave MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire after being repatriated to the UK from a cruise ship hit by the coronavirus in Yokohama, Japan and head to Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside
PA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
People rest in a temporary hospital situated in the Tazihu Gymnasium in Wuhan
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Buddhist monks wearing protective face masks pray during a blessing ceremony for the people affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, at a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
REUTERS
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient infecting with a new coronavirus to a hospital in Chuncheon, South Korea
AP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Soldiers in hazmat suits sanitize cargo from a China Airlines plane at the Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan City, Taiwan
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Barricades are seen to block the entrance a the gate of a local mall in a nearly empty area in Beijing, China
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A vendor wearing a protective facemask waits for customers at a shop in Beijing
AFP via
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
The body temperature of an Iraqi child returning from Iran is measured upon her arrival at the Najaf International Airport
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Volunteers hand out free facemasks at a shopping district in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical workers wearing protective gears carry a patient suspected of contracting the new coronavirus toward an ambulance at Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo, South Korea
AP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A worker disinfects a shop at a market in Shanghai
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A restaurant worker wearing protective clothing as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus passing a bag of food to a customer on the street outside their restaurant in Beijing
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A recovered patient is discharged from Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built makeshift hospital for novel coronavirus patients, in Wuhan
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a factory with sanitising equipment in Huzhou, China
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical workers in protective suits attend to a patient inside an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A drone operated by the Suwon municipal government flies around Changyong Middle School spraying disinfectant, in Suwon, South Korea
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Workers transfer medical waste at Leishenshan Hospital
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A man wearing a protective mask rides a bicycle with his children in Guangzhou, China
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Changsha, Hunan province, China
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A woman repatriated from Wuhan carries a child as she walks upon her arrival at the Van Don airport in Vietnam’s Quang Ninh province
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical staff checking the body temperature of a patient who has displayed mild symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital in Wuhan
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A medical worker in protective suit transports oxygen tanks at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Boys wearing protection masks, gloves and modified water bottles sit on a cart at the airport arrival terminal in Guangzhou
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Employees work on a production line manufacturing protective suits at a clothing factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province
cnsphoto via Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical workers in protective suits move a patient at an isolated ward of a hospital in Caidian district following an outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan
China Daily via Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A worker in protective clothing, including face mask and gloves, carries a bucket as he works inside of The County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton, southern England, after it closed for “urgent operational health and safety reasons”, following reports a member of staff was infected with the strain of the novel coronavirus
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Workers of the ecology and environment bureau collect samples from the sewage system of a hospital in Xinle, Hebei province
China Daily via Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virusA man in protective clothing cleaning the County Oak Medical Centre GP practice
The British government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a “serious and imminent threat” and reported four new cases that brought the total recorded in the country to eight. Two hospitals The Royal Free and Guys and St Thomas’, have both been designated as “isolation” facilities, with both currently housing Britons who have returned from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak
PA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical staff transfer patients to the newly completed Huoshenshan temporary field Hospital in Wuhan. The global coronavirus death toll rose again with Hong Kong announcing its first death from the outbreak on 4 February
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Members of staff wait as coaches carrying Coronavirus evacuees arrive at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, in Milton Keynes, after being repatriated to the UK from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan
PA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A crew member of the cruise ship Diamond Princess talks to a worker wearing protective gear standing near the vessel, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Doctors scan a patient’s lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan
Xinhua News Agency/AP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Indonesians who arrived from Wuhan are sprayed with antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam. People evacuated from the Chinese city at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, were transported to a quarantine zone on a remote island at the edge of the South China Sea, shortly after landing
Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a market in Beijing
Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical staff members hugging each other in an isolation ward at a hospital in Zouping in China’s easter Shandong province
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A portrait of Dr Li Wenliang is left at Li’s hospital in Wuhan. He is regarded a whistleblower on the outbreak and died of the coronavirus which triggered wide-spread mourning on Chinese media
Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where people tested positive for coronavirus, after the ship arrived at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Firefighters and personnel from the health ministry participate in a drill to prepare for the potential arrival of passengers infected with the coronavirus at the Viru Viru International Airport, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Scientists are at work in the VirPath university laboratory as they try to find an effective treatment against the new Sars-like coronavirus
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical workers in protective suits attend to patients at the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital to receive patients with mild symptoms caused by the virus
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A girl wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A man is transferred from the World Dream cruise ship to an ambulance at the Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong as health officials conduct inspections
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Workers from a disinfection service company enter Lotte Department Store in central Seoul, South Korea
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A man who arrived from Hubei province talks with police at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A doctor holds a handheld digital thermometer near health officials preparing a health check for arriving passengers from China at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A resident walks across an empty track in Wuhan
Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A scientific staff member works in a secure laboratory, researching the coronavirus, at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical staff members preparing equipment to meet passengers of a military plane, which evacuated citizens of Russia and ex-Soviet countries from China’s Wuhan province
Vsluh.ru via Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Staff wearing protective suits as they prepare to disinfect a Vietnam Airlines plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi
Vietnam Airlines/AFP/Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A South Korean person, who was evacuated from Wuhan, arrives at the National Medical Center after showing suspected symptoms of novel coronavirus, in Seoul
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Officers in protective gear escort a person (under the blue sheet) who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and was tested positive for coronavirus
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A doctor being disinfected by his colleague at a quarantine zone in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Buses carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan, arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside
Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical staff transfer patients in Wuhan
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Indonesian health officials conduct an exercise drill in transporting a patient requiring isolation at the Belawan port in Medan
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
The Pasteur Institute in Dakar, designated by the African Union as one of the two reference centres in Africa for the detection of the new coronavirus that appeared in China, is hosting experts from 15 countries on the continent this weekend to prepare them to deal with the disease
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A government worker disinfects a co-worker after visiting a quarantined woman’s home in Qingdao
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
An aerial view of the deserted roads and bridges in Wuhan
Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical workers hold a strike outside the Hospital Authority as they demand for Hong Kong to close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A person has their tempriture checked in Qingdao, China
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/AFP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Malaysian nationals being directed from a bus by health officials in protective suits as they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, after being evacuated from Wuhan
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health/AFP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
People hoping to buy face masks crowd outside a medical supply shop that was raided by police for allegedly hoarding and overpricing the masks, as public fear over China’s Wuhan Coronavirus grow in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions from China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed hundreds and infected thousands more
Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Residents wearing masks and raincoats volunteer to take temperature of passengers following the outbreak of a new coronavirus at a bus stop at Tin Shui Wai, a border town in Hong Kong
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Italian citizens repatriated from Wuhan going though a health control zone after landing at the Mario De Bernardi military airport in Pratica di Mare, south of Rome, prior to be placed in quarantine
Italian Defence Ministry/AFP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Workers arrange beds in a 2,000-bed mobile hospital, set up in an exhibition center, in Wuhan
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A doctor checks conditions of occupants in a hotel accommodating isolated people in Wuhan
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city of Wuhan, arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. The Chinese army deployed medical specialists to the epicentre of the spiralling viral outbreak that has killed and spread around the world
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A baby wearing a protective face mask is pushed by a woman as they arrive from Shenzhen to Hong Kong at Lo Wu MTR station
AFP via
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A health worker checks the temperature of a woman entering a subway station in Beijing
Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virusA young child wears a protective mask and is covered in plastic while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern
Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Ambulance crews arrive at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, as it prepares for a return flight from Wuhan, China. Eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan are being flown back to the UK
Tom Maddick / SWNS
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A woman carries a baby wearing a protective mask as they exit the arrival hall at Hong Kong High Speed Rail Station
Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Camp beds at a Medical Assessment Center set up at the airport in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on the eve of the arrival of German citizens evacuated from Wuhan
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Funeral parlour staff members in protective suits help a colleague with disinfection after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Muslims wearing masks pray for the victims of coronavirus at a mosque in Ahmedabad, India
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical officials waiting for people who wants to check the novel coronavirus at Myeongdong shopping district
Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Children wear plastic bottles as makeshift homemade protection and protective masks while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport
Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A patient assisted by medical staff gets off an ambulance in Wuhan
AFP/Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
People line up to buy face masks from a medical supply company in Nanning, southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Countries began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by a new virus that has now infected more people in China than were sickened in the country by SARS
Chinatopix via AP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown
Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Children with face masks wash their hands before prayer at Erawan shrine in Bangkok. Thailand has detected eight Coronavirus cases so far
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virusAn Indonesian health officer points at the screen of a thermal scanner for passengers
China confirmed that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus virus can be transmitted between humans
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Hospital workers wearing protective eyewear and masks examine an Indonesian student who returned from China in quarantine at a hospital in Banda Aceh
AFP via
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Ambulance staff dispose of an outfit at the hospital in Wuhan
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A person checks the temperature of a passenger to help stop the spread of a deadly virus as he arrives at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International airport in Palembang
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Nepali students, wearing face masks, attend a class at Matribhumi School in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu
AFP via
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Two Buddhist monks wear face masks while walking along a street in Yangon
AFP via
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Staff disinfecting a residential area in Ruichang, part of Jiujiang in China’s central Jiangxi province
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Workers are seen at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province on January 27, 2020. – China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken thousands of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via ) HECTOR RETAMAL
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Vapor blurs the goggles of an ambulance driver while they work, in Wuhan
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Yangzhou
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical staff getting on an ambulance in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A vendor of traditional masks wears a facial mask at his shop in Thamel
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
An airport official checks the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical staff members arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
An ambulance driver talking with medical staff in Wuhan
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Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virusWuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team leave the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market
The new coronavirus appears to have its origins in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a popular transport hub
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Workers produce protective suits at a factory in Nantong
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Passengers scanned by thermal imaging for body temperature as they go through health measures and procedures after they landed at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan
Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A Thai royal guard wears a mask while on duty at the Grand Palace in Bangkok
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A man wearing a face mask rides a nearly empty subway train in Beijing
AP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical staff members at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A shopper wearing goggles with a face mask and gloves uses a self checkout machine at a supermarket in Wuhan
AP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Members of the Italian Red Cross putting on protective gear, getting ready to give health checks to passengers that landed at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan
Aeroporto Di Roma/AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A member of the Hong Kong government’s Civil Aid Service gestures at the entrance to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village which is being used as one of two quarantine centres for people who have been in close proximity with suspected cases of a SARS-type virus. Hong Kong will turn two holiday camps, including a former military barracks, into quarantine zones for people who may have come into contact with carriers of the Wuhan virus, officials announced
AFP via
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical staff wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan
STR/AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A Malaysia Health official checks passengers going through a thermal scanner upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virusStaff disinfecting Yingtan North Railway Station, China
China banned trains and planes from leaving the major city at the centre of a virus outbreak on January 23, seeking to seal off its 11 million people to contain the contagious disease that has claimed lives and spread to other countries
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A passenger walks past a quarantine control station at Narita airport, Japan
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Patients queue up to seek treatment in Wuhan Tongji Hospital Fever Clinic, in Wuhan
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Quarantine workers spray disinfectant at Incheon International Airport, South Korea
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A member of staff checks the temperature of a guest entering the casino of the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau, after it reported its first case of the new SARS-like virus
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virusMedical staff transfer patients to Jin Yintan hospital
Little is known about the new disease which, if confirmed, would be only the seventh coronavirus known to science that can infect humans
Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Members of the Three Gorges Medical Laboratory offering free masks to the public in Yichang, China
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Gabriel Leung, right, chair professor of public health medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, speaks about the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team conducting searches on the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virusA quarantine officer at Incheon International Airport, South Korea, uses an electronic thermometer to check the temperature of passengers arriving by plane from Wuhan
The virus causes symptoms of viral pneumonia, and has already led to several deaths
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A screen shows cancelled flights at Tianhe airport in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Health officials hand out information about the current coronavirus at Kuala Lumpur International Airport
AP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A store owner argues with security guards as he attempts to enter the closed Huanan wholesale seafood market
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Handan, China’s northern Hebei province
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical staff and security personnel stop patients’ family members from being too close to the Jinyintan hospital
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
maya-goodfellowAn airport staff member uses a temperature gun to check people leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport
AP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A rescue worker walks past a notice about new coronavirus that has broken out in China
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Health officials wear face masks at an inspection site at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang
AP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Medical staff members carry a patient into the Jinyintan hospital
AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A staff member checks body temperature of a child after a train from Wuhan arrived at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou
AFP via
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A quarantine station measures passenger body temperatures at Narita Airport
JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Passengers walk past a notice displayed near a quarantine control station at Narita airport
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Passengers walk past a poster alerting on coronavirus screening ahead upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
An employee sprays disinfectant on a train, as a precaution against coronavirus, at Suseo Station in Seoul
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Kazakh sanitary-epidemiological service worker uses a thermal scanner to detect travellers from China who may have symptoms possibly connected with the previously unknown coronavirus, at Almaty International Airport, Kazakhstan
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Pharmacist Liu Zhuzhen stands near a sign reading “face masks are sold out” at her pharmacy in Shanghai
AP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
The Wuhan Medical Treatment Center,
EPA
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A worker in a protective suit at the closed seafood market in Wuhan
Reuters
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
Passengers wear protective face masks at the departure hall of a high speed train station in Hong Kong
AP
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A notice for passengers from Wuhan
Getty
Coronavirus: Cases soar of deadly new flu-like virus
A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market
Getty
Mr Cotton is referring to a well-known lab in Wuhan, a “Cellular Level Biosafety Level 4” facility with a high level of operational security that works on researching dangerous pathogens.
In response to Mr Cotton’s remarks, as well as in previous interviews with The Washington Post, numerous experts dismissed the possibility the coronavirus may be man-made.
“There’s absolutely nothing in the genome sequence of this virus that indicates the virus was engineered,” said Richard Ebright, a professor of chemical biology at Rutgers University. “The possibility this was a deliberately released bioweapon can be firmly excluded.”
Vipin Narang, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said it is “highly unlikely” the general population was exposed to a virus through an accident at a lab.
“We don’t have any eence for that,” said Prof Narang, a political science professor with a background in chemical engineering.
“It’s a skip in logic to say it’s a bioweapon that the Chinese developed and intentionally deployed, or even unintentionally deployed,” Prof Narang said.
The Daily Mail was one of the first to suggest a connection between the coronavirus and the laboratory in Wuhan. Later, the Washington Times suggested in a headline that “Coronavirus may have originated in lab linked to China’s biowarfare program.”’
Sunday was not the first time Mr Cotton has suggested the virus may have originated in the Wuhan lab. Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai pushed back on such suggestions in an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation” this month.
“It’s true that a lot is still unknown,” Mr Cui said when host Margaret Brennan asked about Mr Cotton’s claims. “But it’s very harmful, it’s very dangerous, to stir up suspicion, rumours, and spread them among the people. For one thing, this will create panic. Another thing is that it will fan up racial discrimination, xenophobia, all these things that will really harm our joint efforts to combat the virus.”
Mr Cotton responded to the ambassador in a pair of tweets following the interview, referencing the Wuhan lab. “Where did it start? We don’t know. But burden of proof is on you & fellow communists,” he wrote.
After Senator Cotton’s most recent remarks, Professor Narang said, “These kinds of conspiracy theories are unhelpful.”
“I don’t think it’s particularly helpful and it’s borderline irresponsible to – and it’s without eence, so at this point it’s a conspiracy theory – peddle it,” he said. “Cotton should spend more time funding the agencies in the United States that can help contain and combat the virus rather than trying to assign blame.”
The Washington Post
The headline of this article was amended on July 26, 2021, to remove the word ‘debunked’ and replace it with ‘disputed’, as there has as yet been no definitive proof about the origins of the virus. The Washington Post has also amended its article.
