China’s “bat woman” is using her research to try to prove coronavirus did not come from a lab – her lab, specifically.
Shi Zhengli, deputy director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), told the BBC that she is open to “any kind of visit” that would rule out any concern that Covid-19 was birthed from her lab. She says she spoke to the World Health Organization (WHO), which is planning on going to Wuhan on a research trip in January.
“I have personally and clearly expressed that I would welcome them to visit the WIV,” she said in an email. “I would personally welcome any form of visit based on an open, transparent, trusting, reliable and reasonable dialogue,” wrote the scientist who is known for her studies on bats, according to the New York Post.
Zhengli was asked if a formal investigation would be included with access to her, and Zhengli responded that the decision is not up to her. The scientist says the lab;’s online database was just removed this year after the lab and its workers were attacked. However, Zhengli says that their research was kept in other databases and was also “published in English journals in the form of papers.” She noted that the findings are “completely transparent. We have nothing to hide,” she insisted.
Not long after, the lab sent out a statement to BBC, saying Zhengli can only speak on her own behalf that her statements were not approved.
