US Suspends Funds to Wuhan Lab at Center of COVID-19 Theories
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The U.S. has suspended funds to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) over concerns that the lab has failed to be transparent about its practices.
Key Details: On Monday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent a letter to WIV mentioning efforts to disqualify the lab in the future from receiving U.S. funds. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) sent $1.4 million to the Wuhan lab between 2014 and 2019.
Key Quote: "This action will ensure the [Wuhan Institute of Virology] does not receive another dollar of federal funding," said an HHS spokesperson.
For Context: Some intelligence agencies think it's likely that the COVID-19 pandemic started with a leak from the lab, where the U.S. was helping fund controversial "gain-of-function" research on coronaviruses. In May, the National Institutes of Health reinstated a grant to an organization that conducted the research.
How the Media Covered it: Right-rated sources covered the news more prominently than left-rated sources, and often framed the lab leak theory as likely. Left-rated sources focused more on sources who think a natural animal-to-human transmission is the more likely origin of the pandemic. Updated 7/19/23 at 12:12 pm ET with coverage from the center.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
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...
From the Left
Biden administration suspends funding for Wuhan lab
The Biden administration has suspended funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology following a monthslong review that determined that the Chinese research institute “is not compliant with federal regulations and is not presently responsible,” according to a memo from the Department of Health and Human Services.
HHS, which conducted the review, also proposed barring the Wuhan Institute from doing business with the federal government going forward, according to the memo, which is dated to Monday and was first reported by Bloomberg.
The lab has not received any federal funding from the...
From the Center
Biden administration suspends funding to Wuhan lab
The Biden administration is suspending all federal funding to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese lab at the center of a controversy over the origins of the coronavirus, according to a memo from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made public by a House subcommittee.
The memo from an HHS official said the facility has repeatedly refused to provide documents and answer questions from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) about safety and security. HHS also told the lab it’s seeking to cut off funding permanently.
The...
AllSides Picks
September 6th, 2024
September 6th, 2024
More News about Politics from the Left, Center and Right
From the Left
From the Center
From the Right
