Confusion reigns over the origin of the new coronavirus. And new revelations from the American press - which are not yet scientifically proven - pose new questions about China's handling of the crisis. There are "obviously things that have happened that we do not know," incidentally, President Emmanuel Macron told the British daily Financial Times on Thursday.
There are many questions. Has a virus been created or manipulated in the laboratory? Did he escape? If yes, accidentally or voluntarily? Are these assumptions related to the stormy diplomatic relations between the United States and China? Overview in four points.
What do we know about the origin of the virus?
In the current state of scientific knowledge, experts agree that its origin is natural. A March study by American, British and Australian researchers concluded that "SARS-CoV-2 (its scientific name, Editor's note) is not a laboratory product or a deliberately manipulated virus". The virus is said to be a mixture passed through two types of bats and one type of pangolin.
It is the structure of the virus, in particular, which proves this natural origin, explained to us already the researcher Etienne Simon-Loriere of the Pasteur Institute, Monday. The way this virus binds to the receptor to enter a cell, he explains, is significantly different from the SARS known to laboratories. “If it had been human-made, it would have been done by copying previous SARS. We could not have invented this original way of binding to the receptor in humans, ”he added.
It is not clear, however, how the virus spread to humans before it spread around the world. The March study recalls that a seafood market in Wuhan, where other animals are also sold, is strongly suspected to be the first focus of the epidemic. But the search for the "zero patient" continues. China, which is investigating the subject, remains silent on this point for the moment.
What does the American press say?
At the origin of the theory, two media: the Washington Post , which published a column Wednesday in its Opinions column, and the chain Fox News, which published two articles on this subject Thursday. In the first, a columnist specializing in foreign affairs says he had access to sensitive diplomatic telegrams, dating from 2018. Two embassy envoys, responsible in particular for scientific and health matters, confess their concern after visiting the laboratory from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the one classified as having the highest level of security (known as "P4" in France).
The letters describe a lack of technicians and researchers well enough trained to work there safely. Its authors are also concerned about the risks associated with the work of laboratory workers on viruses present in bats, which could cause a pandemic similar to the 2003 Sars.
Fox News goes even further. The television channel, known for being conciliatory with President Donald Trump, assures that the virus would have escaped from this laboratory. The "patient zero", according to unidentified sources within the administration and American intelligence, is one of the employees, contaminated by a bat.
Newsletter - The essentials of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more
But, the two American media - and the officials - remind it: these theories are not based on any concrete study or investigation. “We know that this virus comes from Wuhan. We know that the Institute of Virology is very close to the market (the one that is singled out for the origin of the virus, Editor's note). There is still much to learn. The US government is working hard to find out the truth, "said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday.
Questioned Thursday, a spokesperson for Chinese diplomacy, Zhao Lijian, firmly denied this possibility. "Many reputable medical experts around the world believe that the supposed leakage has no scientific basis," he said, saying that the origin of the virus should be investigated. specialist studies.
What do we know about the safety of this laboratory?
The level 4 biosafety laboratory, attached to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, was designed in partnership with France. It has many advanced equipment designed on our territory. While the project was signed in 2004, a year after the SARS epidemic, the laboratory only emerged from the ground in 2015 and will wait another three years before being put into service.
Before the site was put into operation, some people were already worried about the actions of China. Contacted, Professor Richard H. Ebright, laboratory director at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology, in New Jersey (United States), evokes "high risk" tests, carried out from 2015 in the Wuhan Institute . They were "intended to collect and name new coronaviruses in bats, and, secondly, to strengthen the ability of coronaviruses to transmit to humans" to better assess their dangerousness, he says. "The risk of this causing a pandemic was discussed in 2015, and safety standards were discussed in 2017," added the biologist, citing two studies published in the journal Nature.
In February 2017, during a trip to China, Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve inaugurated the certification of the Wuhan laboratory alongside Hervé Raoul, director of the P4 Jean Mérieux-Inserm laboratory in Lyon, who had worked directly on the design from the laboratory.
For the latter, all the signals were then green. With Strategies , the latter explained that the work would first be carried out on viruses of lower risk, the time to ensure the security of the site and the training of teams. Has France finally lost all control capacity on the site? Initially, the bilateral agreement provided for the arrival of 50 French specialists in the next five. They will never go there.
The laboratory was launched in January 2018, far from the French. It was at this time that members of the American embassy sent up the famous diplomatic telegrams, according to the Washington Post.
Contacted, the services of the presidency refused to answer our questions about a possible loss of French influence. "To date, there is no factual element allowing to corroborate the information which recently circulated in the American press, establishing a link between the origin of the Covid-19 and the work of the P4 laboratory of Wuhan in China", we are soberly told us.
In what context do these revelations take place?
Since the start of the epidemic, the United States and China have been engaged in an intense communication battle. Donald Trump did not hesitate a moment before speaking of "Chinese virus". More generally, this information is part of a geopolitical context of high tension between the two superpowers. “This rivalry has many facets, explains Nicole Bacharan, historian and political scientist, specialist in the United States. It is primarily commercial and geopolitical. If the Europeans criticize China's behavior from a commercial point of view, Donald Trump is much more brutal in his reactions.
The publication of this information has everything to further amplify these tensions. "The pandemic context, which scares everyone, means that we are always looking for scapegoats," continues Nicole Bacharan. When we know the doubts about the figures communicated by China since the beginning of the epidemic, this information on the laboratory of Wuhan can play on opinion. Whether the facts are established or not.