Don’t Rule Out Lab Leak, China’s Ex-Top Health Official Says of COVID Origin

Gao Fu, also known as George Gao, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks during a State Council Information Office press conference in Beijing on Jan. 26, 2020. Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

The chance that COVID-19 originated from a laboratory can’t be ruled out, the former head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) said.

George Gao, who headed China CDC during the COVID-19 pandemic, also claimed Chinese officials have investigated the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) to find out whether SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was leaked from the lab.