Covid_19 > Wuhan Lab safety questioned in 2017

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NIH doctor sounded alarms about Wuhan lab safety in 2017

By Ryan King, NYPost

Published Sep. 22, 2023, 4:21 p.m. ET

A doctor working for the US government visited the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in October 2017 and raised safety concerns almost exactly two years before the COVID-19 pandemic began to emerge in the central Chinese city.

“It is clear to me by talking to the technician that certainly there is a need for training support,” Dr. Ping Chen, who worked at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), wrote in a report the following month, according to excerpts seen by The Post.

“I think the institute would welcome any help and technical support by NIAID.”

Now, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is pursuing additional information about the concerns Chen raised.

A 2018 State Department cable Johnson believes referenced Chen and other scientists’ misgivings about the lab was more pointed.

Wuhan Lab - China infamously restricted domestic travel out of Wuhan when the virus first surfaced, but permitted international travel. REUTERS

Ron Johnson

Sen. Ron Johnson has accused the Health and Human Services Department of stonewalling his requests.

Getty Images

“[D]uring interactions with scientists at the WIV laboratory, they noted that the new lab has a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory,” the cable said.

Some of Chen’s private worries about the lab have previously been documented.

Johnson and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) pressed the Department of Health and Human Services for additional information back in 2021 and ultimately acquired a redacted copy of Chen’s report and were granted an in camera review of it.

Ron Johnson letter - “It is clear to me by talking to the technician that certainly there is a need for training support,”

Dr. Ping Chen wrote. Sen. Ron Johnson's office

But Johnson was irritated by the redactions in the version of the report given to his team after the review. HHS officials conceded that not all the redactions pertained to national security concerns.

“In the public FOIA document, HHS redacted Dr. Chen’s entire report claiming that it contains privacy and deliberative information,” Johnson wrote in a letter to the head of HHS and the National Institutes of Health on Thursday.

“It seems apparent that the only reason that HHS redacted this information was to hide the report’s contents from the American people. Perhaps HHS did not want the public to fully understand the fact that NIH and NIAID officials were aware of safety concerns at the WIV dating as far back as 2017.”

Scientists - Senators have voiced concerns about riskier gain of function research and sought to bar the government

from funding that. Future Publishing via Getty Images

Proponents of the so-called “lab leak” theory have long suggested that the coronavirus that triggered the pandemic emerged from the WIV, where risky so-called “gain-of-function” research on bat coronavirus was performed, some of it funded by US taxpayer dollars.

On Tuesday, HHS informed Congress that the Wuhan Lab has been “disbarred” from receiving US government support until at least July 2033.

HHS cited failure to comply with government regulations, but there had been mounting political pressure as well.

Wuhan Lab - Scientists are split over whether or not the virus came from a lab leak or a natural spillover. 

AFP via Getty Images

Johnson, the ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, is demanding an interview with Chen, unredacted copies of her 2017 report and private communications about it, as well as other material referring to the Wuhan Lab.

“HHS and NIH continue to obstruct my oversight efforts. It is unacceptable that HHS and NIH had Dr. Chen’s report in its possession and only provided a slightly-less redacted version for my staff to review in camera,” Johnson said.

His letter detailing those demands was sent to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and NIH acting director Lawrence Tabak.

HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

COVID-19 has caused 6.9 million deaths globally, with 1.1 million occurring in the US, per data from the World Health Organization.

In January, 2020, China shut down all train and bus routes from Wuhan, but not the airport. Regional and international flights continued.