Members of France’s Academy of Medicine Conclude With Near Unanimity That Covid-19 Emerged After a ‘Laboratory Error’

Ninety-seven percent of the members of the French Academy of Medicine believe that Covid-19 originated from a laboratory error, the president of France’s Covid-19 Scientific Council, Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, announced during a press conference on Wednesday. The nearly unanimous vote was included in a new report from the Academy of Medicine which assessed the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Delfraissy suggested that “lessons must be learned” from the 2019 disaster to ensure “precautions in the future.”The academy, Académie Nationale de Médecine in French, was founded in 1820 and is one of the country’s most preeminent medical bodies. A non-government organization, it advises the French government on health issues much as the American Medical Association offers input to the American government in the United States.During Wednesday’s press conference, one of the report’s co-authors, Christine Rouzioux, noted the academy’s finding that the laboratory in Wuhan was “insufficient in terms of bioprotection of personnel and the environment.” She urged scientists to develop “a culture of risk and responsibility” and lamented that “risks are underestimated by a number of researchers.” Although the report does not offer a definitive explanation for Covid-19’s origins, it adds to the mounting evidence that the highly contagious disease did not originate naturally. In January, the CIA claimed that Covid-19 was “more likely” to have leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, than to have originated from animals. Officials noted that the finding did not suggest a new “smoking gun” but reflected analysis on existing data. The intelligence agency, however, warned that it had “low confidence” in its conclusion. China’s foreign ministry rejected the CIA’s assessment, stating that “The conclusion that a laboratory leak is extremely unlikely was reached by the China-WHO joint expert team based on field visits to relevant laboratories in Wuhan,” spokeswoman Mao Ning said. “This has been widely recognized by the international community and the scientific community.”China has long denied that the disease stemmed from a lab leak, denouncing the hypothesis as “political manipulation” by Washington. American officials, on the other hand, have claimed that the government is unlikely to come to a definitive conclusion on the origins of the virus without greater cooperation from China. Beijing has long pushed against probes by the international community.

Members of France’s Academy of Medicine Conclude With Near Unanimity That Covid-19 Emerged After a ‘Laboratory Error’

Members of France’s Academy of Medicine Conclude With Near Unanimity That Covid-19 Emerged After a ‘Laboratory Error’

More from the New York Sun

Outnumbered 3-to-1: The Men Who Could Sway the Lindsay Clancy Jury

House Intelligence Committee Warns a New ‘Failure of Imagination’ Could Be Setting America Up for an AI Attack

College Football Cartel Huddles With Congress To Team Up Against Players

Liberal Legal Establishment Fails To Keep Up With Clarence Thomas’s Transformation of American Jurisprudence

Widow of Moonies’ Founder Sentenced to Two Years in Korea for Accepting a Chanel Handbag and Necklace as a Bribe

More Than 1,200 New Yorkers To Receive ‘Nevermind’ Pied-à-Terre Notices as City ‘Backpedals,’ More Get New ‘Nastygrams,’ Court Hears

Beyond the Luxury Box: How a New Guard of Female Owners Is Reshaping Pro Sports

Is Self-Censoring Unconstitutional?

More from the New York Sun

Outnumbered 3-to-1: The Men Who Could Sway the Lindsay Clancy Jury

House Intelligence Committee Warns a New ‘Failure of Imagination’ Could Be Setting America Up for an AI Attack

College Football Cartel Huddles With Congress To Team Up Against Players

Liberal Legal Establishment Fails To Keep Up With Clarence Thomas’s Transformation of American Jurisprudence

Widow of Moonies’ Founder Sentenced to Two Years in Korea for Accepting a Chanel Handbag and Necklace as a Bribe

More Than 1,200 New Yorkers To Receive ‘Nevermind’ Pied-à-Terre Notices as City ‘Backpedals,’ More Get New ‘Nastygrams,’ Court Hears

Beyond the Luxury Box: How a New Guard of Female Owners Is Reshaping Pro Sports

Is Self-Censoring Unconstitutional?