Did the United States refuse to let WHO investigate Fort Detrick for evidence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus?!
Take a look at this viral post from China, and find out what the FACTS really are!
Claim : US Refused WHO Investigation Of Fort Detrick For COVID-19 Evidence!
This post from China is being repeatedly shared by in WhatsApp groups, as evidence that the United States is trying to hide that they created the COVID-19 virus.
It’s a long read, so if you just want the facts, skip to the next section.
Till today, USA has refused to let WHO International team to investigate Fort Detrick, the origin of the Trumpp virus…your say 🥶
Shocking! Today the poisoning killer was finally found, and it really was the United States!
The truth is creepy, the new crown virus is man-made and originated from the [骷髅] P3 virus laboratory in North Carolina, USA!
Truth : WHO Did Not Even Ask To Investigate Fort Detrick!
The super-long WhatsApp post appears to be Google translated from Chinese, with mistakes like :
- crown virus = coronavirus
- First News Network = One America Network
- Greg Roubini = Greg Rubini
- Ralph Barrick = Ralph Baric
- Radixivir = Remdesivir
- Stanley Chela = Stanley Chera
It is also nothing more than a collage of past and present Chinese propaganda on COVID-19, some of which we had already debunked in the past :
- Did China Contribute 60% Of COVAX Vaccine Supply?
- Did COVID-19 Leak From Gilead Sciences Lab In Fort Detrick?
- Did New York Times Rank Chinese Vaccines As World Safest?
- Did GSK “Accidentally” Make COVID-19 In Wuhan Lab?
- China : Was COVID-19 Created In Fort Detrick Bio Lab?
- Was US Soldier Caught Spreading COVID-19 In Wuhan?
- Nobel laureate Tasuku Honjo confident US created COVID-19?
- American Origin Of H1N1 Pandemic Hoax Debunked!
- H1N1 Pandemic : The Great American Cover-Up Debunked!
And now, let’s go through and fact check the super-long article, to show you why this is just more fake news and yet another piece of Chinese propaganda.
Claim #1 : USA refused to let WHO investigate Fort Detrick
Verdict : FALSE
The WHO team that looked into the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus never requested to investigate Fort Detrick.
That’s simply because Fort Detrick, which is located in the city of Frederick in the US state of Maryland, was not the epicentre of the first COVID-19 outbreak.
The first COVID-19 outbreak happened in Wuhan in the Hubei province of China.
Claim #2 : Fort Detrick Is Source Of SARS-CoV-2
Verdict : FALSE
China’s repeated suggestions that there may have been a leak at the Fort Detrick laboratory is illogical.
If SARS-CoV-2 leaked from Fort Detrick, the city of Frederick in Maryland would have been the epicentre of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, not Wuhan.
That is why the WHO international team not only asked to investigate the Huanan Seafood Market, they also asked to investigate the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Now, this does not mean that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It merely means the Chinese claim about Fort Detrick is nonsensical.
Claim #3 : Greg Rubini is an American intelligence expert
Verdict : FALSE
Greg Rubini was exposed by Buzzfeed as the alias of a 61 year-old Italian man who worked in marketing and music promotions.
He is definitely NOT American. Neither was he an intelligence expert of any kind.
This false claim was extensively debunked long ago, so it is peculiar why the Chinese keep repeating it.
Claim #4 : SARS-CoV-2 originated in the BSL-3 laboratory in North Carolina
Verdict : FALSE
Wait, didn’t this piece of Chinese propaganda claim that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was created in Fort Detrick?
Fort Detrick is in the state of Maryland; while the University of North Carolina (UNC) is in the state of North Carolina.
Which is it? The virus cannot be created in two separate places.
If it was created in the BSL-3 laboratory at UNC, then why ask for Fort Detrick to be investigated?
The lack of logic in Chinese propaganda is astounding…
Claim #4 : Luc Montagnier revealed that virus has HIV sequence
Verdict : FALSE
This claim was made in April 2020, when Luc Montagnier actually hypothesised that the SARS-CoV-2 virus came “out of a laboratory in Wuhan“.
Not surprisingly, this piece of Chinese propaganda adroitly skipped past that inconvenient claim…
At that time, Montagnier cited an Indian pre-published study as evidence that the coronavirus was engineered. He did not “reveal” that the virus has HIV genetic sequences.
That Indian paper was withdrawn
Claim #5 : Indian scientists discovered the HIV virus insert in SARS-CoV-2
Verdict : FALSE
The Indian paper that Luc Montagnier cited was posted on BioRxiv, not in February as claimed, but in January 2020.
In their paper, that group of Indian scientists claimed that there were “uncanny similarity of unique inserts” between SARS-CoV-2 and HIV-1, suggesting that the coronavirus was engineered.
That pre-published study was widely criticised by the scientific community, as the similarities it pointed out were very common amongst similar viruses.
The authors quickly withdrew their paper, which was not peer-reviewed, after it was criticised for jumping to conclusions. Subsequent research has shown that their conclusions had no merit.
Claim #6 : COVID-19 originated in the United States
Verdict : FALSE
Analysis of blood samples of donors in various countries, including the United States, revealed that people were infected with COVID-19 before China reported it to the WHO on 31 December 2019.
That led China to push the narrative that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in the United States.
However, there are two problems with that narrative – SARS-CoV-2 is highly contagious, and scientists can analyse its genomic changes over time.
SARS-CoV-2 Is Highly Contagious
SARS-CoV-2 is so contagious that an outbreak is very hard to contain. Look at the severe lockdown measures the Chinese undertook in Wuhan.
There were no such lockdowns in the US, so if SARS-CoV-2 originated in the US, it would have resulted in a massive outbreak.
Obviously, that did not happen, ergo COVID-19 could not possibly have originated in the United States.
Genomic Analysis
Viruses mutate and create new variants over time. A novel virus like SARS-CoV-2 would start with a single ancestral variant and evolve into multiple variants as it spreads globally and mutate over time.
By analysing the genomic changes of these variants, scientists have pretty much concluded that SARS-CoV-2 did indeed originate in China.
The blood sample studies only serve to reinforce the growing opinion that China was either unaware of COVID-19 for many weeks, or covered up the fact that they had a new viral epidemic on their hands.
Claim #7 : Robert Redfield said many deaths in September 2019 were from COVID-19
Verdict : FALSE
Chinese media, like CGTN and New China TV, have actively pushed this false narrative after CDC director, Dr. Robert Redfield, said that some deaths that were initially diagnosed as influenza were later detected as COVID-19.
This happened on 11 March 2020, during the US House Oversight Committee discussion :
Rep. Harley Rouda asked Dr. Redfield if it’s possible that some flu patients may have been misdiagnosed, and actually had COVID-19.
Dr. Redfield replied, “Some cases have actually been diagnosed that way in the United States today“.
At no point did he say that that those deaths were detected in September 2019.
Claim #8 : US soldier Maatje Benassi spread COVID-19 to Wuhan
Verdict : FALSE
Chinese media and netizens have assiduously claimed that COVID-19 was introduced to Wuhan by US soldiers participating in the 2019 Military World Games.
They initially used a video of a Belgian man to push this fake narrative, but later shifted to targeting one specific US soldier – Maatje Benassi.
Maatje Benassi was just one of the hundreds of US soldiers participating in the 2019 Military World Games – essentially the military version of Olympics.
A competitive cyclist, she suffered an accident in the final lap of a 50 mile race, suffering a fractured rib and a concussion.
Despite not being diagnosed with COVID-19, she was accused of being Patient Zero, who spread COVID-19 to Wuhan.
Both Chinese propaganda outlet, Global Times, and Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, participated in this false narrative.
Claim #9 : Maatje Benassi works at Fort Detrick
Verdict : FALSE
Maatje Benassi does not work at Fort Detrick.
She was an Army reservist assigned to the 312th Observer-Controller Trainer unit at Fort Meade – about 91 km away from Fort Detrick.
Claim #10 : Ralph Baric developed the SARS-CoV-2 virus
Verdict : FALSE
There is no evidence that Ralph Baric, or any other person, developed the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Claim #11 : Remdesivir was developed for COVID-19 before it existed
Verdict : FALSE
Remdesivir is a broad-spectrum antiviral medication, that works by inhibiting viral RNA polymerase, which exists in most RNA viruses. That means it could work against a broad range of viruses.
It was initially developed to treat hepatitis C and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in 2009, but failed to work against them.
It was then studied as a potential treatment for Ebola and Marburg virus infections, before it was discovered to work in vitro (in the lab) against multiple filoviruses, pneumoviruses, paramyxoviruses and coronaviruses.
Therefore, the claim that Remdesivir was created to treat COVID-19 before it existed, is false.
Claim #12 : Remdesivir is an antidote for COVID-19
Verdict : FALSE
The US FDA approved remdensivir for use in COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalisation on 22 October 2020, after three promising trials.
However, in November 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended AGAINST the use of remdesivir in COVID-19 patients, after the Solidarity trial determined that it had “little to no effect on hospitalised COVID-19“.
Therefore, the claim that Remdesivir is an antidote or cure for COVID-19 is also false.
Why Would China Push Fake Fort Detrick Claim?
With China’s aggressive foreign policy moves in recent years, it is not uncommon to see fake pro-China, anti-America stories being created and shared.
Many believe it’s part of a concerted attempt to burnish China’s image overseas, and drown out negative coverage of China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative, and their aggressive moves in the South China Sea..
China has also been blamed for not handling the initial COVID-19 epidemic better, and unfairly – for being the origin of this new virus.
Hence, they have been trying their best to deflect blame by casting aspersions unto others, using aggressive Wolf Warrior diplomacy tactics, propaganda outlets like Global Times and CTGN, and their 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛).
This fake news appears to be part of the disinformation campaign conducted by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛).
Please help us fight such malicious fake news – SHARE this fact check far and wide!
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Name : Adrian Wong
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
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