Biden administration suspends funds to Wuhan lab over failure to provide COVID-related info

Wuhan Institute of Virology’s access to U.S. federal funds has been halted over concerns from the Biden administration about the institute's failure to provide adequate documentation about their practices.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced the suspension in a Monday letter to the lab, which mentioned efforts to attempt to debar the laboratory in the future. 

A memo that was obtained by Bloomberg News stated that a previous review revealed that the Wuhan laboratory does not adequately follow federal regulations. The lab had also failed to send documents about their security and safety measures to American officials.

"This action will ensure the [Wuhan Institute of Virology] does not receive another dollar of federal funding," an HHS spokesperson said, according to Bloomberg.

Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan as members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 coronavirus make a visit to the institute in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on Feb. 3, 2021.  (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images, File)

The U.S. government granted the Wuhan lab $1.4 million between 2014 and 2019 through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).