Revealed: Shocking images of Wuhan scientists handling bats without safety precautions

First Published May 4, 2020, 4:52 PM IST

Deleted photographs from the website of the Wuhan Institute of Virology have reignited conspiracy theories over the source of the coronavirus pandemic

Days after a spy dossier accused China of intentionally destroying evidence of the coronavirus outbreak, a new report claims that the Wuhan Institute of Virology deleted pictures from its website that showed scientists handling bat samples without any safety precautions.
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The images - which reveal a shocking lack of safety - were taken down by the Wuhan Institute of Virology after diplomats and scientists raised the alarm about its work.
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According to reports, one worker admitted being sprayed with bat blood or urine as images showed staff brazenly collecting samples with no face masks or protective suits.
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A leaked US intelligence report says China lied about human-to-human transmission of coronavirus, made whistleblowers disappear – and refused to help develop a vaccine.
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US and British intelligence officials suspect bungling scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology accidentally spread the killer disease during risky coronavirus tests on bats.
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And it appears to have also removed all reference to a visit in March 2018 by Rick Switzer, a science and technology expert from the US embassy in Beijing who then raised the alert.
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Incredibly some scientists didn’t even wear gloves as they entered caves to collect fecal bat swab samples, beaming for the camera and oblivious to the dangers.
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As a result of his visit, cables were sent to the US State Department from the embassy warning about the risks of experiments on bats.
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US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday he had seen intelligence that gave him a "high degree of confidence'" that the global crisis had its origins in the institute.
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It was claimed that COVID-19 was "developed in the Wuhan lab as China hoped to prove it's greater than the US at battling deadly diseases".
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