What is the Wuhan Institute of Virology?
Q: What is the Wuhan Institute of Virology?
A: The Wuhan Institute of Virology is a research institute in Wuhan, China, that was designed to study virology. It is run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and opened in 2015.
Q: What is the Biosafety level of the Wuhan Institute of Virology?
A: The institute opened China's first biosafety level 4 (BSL–4) laboratory in 2015.
Q: What were the conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic and the Wuhan Institute of Virology?
A: Some conspiracy theories stated that the COVID-19 pandemic came from a virus made by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, but scientific evidence says that the virus is natural.
Q: What raised safety concerns about the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2018?
A: One story in the Washington Post said that US State Department had raised safety concerns about WIV's research on bat coronaviruses in 2018.
Q: Did experts believe that the virus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology?
A: No, experts do not believe the virus escaped from the institute. One expert said that up to seven million people in Southeast Asia are infected each year with bat coronaviruses.
Q: Were the staff at the Wuhan Institute of Virology trained at US labs?
A: Yes, the staff at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were trained at US labs and follow high safety standards.
Q: Is there any evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic was caused by a laboratory accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology?
A: No, the evidence shows that this is not a laboratory accident.
