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Ensuring a transparent, thorough investigation of Covid-19’s origin

state.gov

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Re: Ensuring a transparent, thorough investigation of Covid-19’s origin

#21

Post by addicted »

"The COVID-19 pandemic was avoidable. Any responsible country would have invited world health investigators to Wuhan within days of an outbreak. China instead refused offers of help – including from the United States – and punished brave Chinese doctors, scientists, and journalists who tried to alert the world to the dangers of the virus. Beijing continues today to withhold vital information that scientists need to protect the world from this deadly virus, and the next one."

The above shows this is a political statement.

I happen to agree with this quote. It's also not, as the US administration likes to pretend, any sort of defense of their response to the pandemic. But at the same time, the presence of this quote makes it very clear that this is little more than a political, rather than a fact based statement intended to get to the truth.

It also aligns with what Pompeo is doing in nearly every other delicate situation in the US over the past few weeks. Setting stuff on fire making it as difficult as possible for the incoming administration to deal with.

Re: Ensuring a transparent, thorough investigation of Covid-19’s origin

#22

Post by platinumrad »

peteretep wrote: post #15
ardy42 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The truth track record of State Department is still much better than that of CCP. Maybe over the long run, but maybe not the current State Department at this moment. IIRC, over the last month it's literally been trying to stir up shit however it can to make things difficult for the incoming Biden administration. The current administration seems to think it makes sense to burn US national credibility for petty, self…

> it's literally been trying to stir up shit however it can to make things difficult for the incoming Biden administration Examples, please? Pompeo certainly taking a more hawkish and strident stance of late, but I’m yet to see anything that suggests they’re salting the earth rather than just trying to ram through some policy aims at the end of an administration

How about declaring Cuba to be a state sponsor of terrorism in the final weeks of Trump's term for no discernable reason at all.

Re: Ensuring a transparent, thorough investigation of Covid-19’s origin

#23

Post by Elof »

option wrote: post #8
ardy42 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The truth track record of State Department is still much better than that of CCP. Maybe over the long run, but maybe not the current State Department at this moment. IIRC, over the last month it's literally been trying to stir up shit however it can to make things difficult for the incoming Biden administration. The current administration seems to think it makes sense to burn US national credibility for petty, self…

State department have warned about poor security at WIV before COVID-19 outbreak https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-dep...

This is most definitely not before the COVID-19 outbreak

Re: Ensuring a transparent, thorough investigation of Covid-19’s origin

#24

Post by addicted »

ghufran_syed wrote: post #14
omgwtfbyobbq wrote: post #6

The United States government has reason to believe that several researchers inside the WIV became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses. I'd wager several researchers in any research institution because sick in autumn 2019 and had symptoms consistent with common seasonal illness. And guess what new virus also ha…

Depends exactly what symptoms they had. Rhinorrhea or cough are extremely non-specific, but if they had loss of taste or smell, or significantly abnormal low oxygen saturation, or multifocal pneumonia in young people - those are all a lot more specific given what we now know about covid

Yes, exactly, which is why this statement looks more like it's intended to add confusion rather than clarity.

Re: Ensuring a transparent, thorough investigation of Covid-19’s origin

#25

Post by dudeinjapan »

fasteddie31003 wrote: post #9

Great claims require great evidence

Absolutely. The great claim that SARS-Cov-2 has a zoonotic origin requires evidence of an animal with a virus similar to SARS-Cov-2. Unlike SARS-1 and MERS, we have not yet found such an animal.

Re: Ensuring a transparent, thorough investigation of Covid-19’s origin

#26

Post by D13Fd »

option wrote: post #3
bredren wrote: post #2

The State Department does not have the credibility to make statements like this right now.

The truth track record of State Department is still much better than that of CCP.

That's definitely true. But that's not the issue.

China, right now, is an adversary of the United States, and the current administration has been doing everything it could to pin the "China virus" on them.

The fact that they are now willing, immediately before a change in administration, to make the allegation in a slightly-more-official capacity means nothing to me. They beat that drum for the past six months with no evidence and no consistent story, and now they issue a statement full of supposition and loose circumstantial evidence. So what?

Re: Ensuring a transparent, thorough investigation of Covid-19’s origin

#27

Post by vanattab »

Elof wrote: post #23
option wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

State department have warned about poor security at WIV before COVID-19 outbreak https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-dep...

This is most definitely not before the COVID-19 outbreak

I think there were some state department cables 2 years before the outbreak.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/state-department-cables-corona...

Re: Ensuring a transparent, thorough investigation of Covid-19’s origin

#28

Post by dudeinjapan »

addicted wrote: post #24
ghufran_syed wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends exactly what symptoms they had. Rhinorrhea or cough are extremely non-specific, but if they had loss of taste or smell, or significantly abnormal low oxygen saturation, or multifocal pneumonia in young people - those are all a lot more specific given what we now know about covid

Yes, exactly, which is why this statement looks more like it's intended to add confusion rather than clarity.

We're talking about a BSL-4 lab here, one of ~50 in the world. Aren't there established protocols to quarantine lab techs if they are showing even minor symptoms?

Re: Ensuring a transparent, thorough investigation of Covid-19’s origin

#29

Post by rllearneratwork »

Elof wrote: post #23
option wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

State department have warned about poor security at WIV before COVID-19 outbreak https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-dep...

This is most definitely not before the COVID-19 outbreak

did you even read the article? It literally starts with: "Two years before the novel coronavirus pandemic upended the world, U.S. Embassy officials visited a Chinese research facility in the city of Wuhan several times and sent two official warnings back to Washington about inadequate safety at the lab..."
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