Scientists said claims about China creating the coronavirus were misleading. They went viral anyway.
Craig Timberg, The Washington Post
Feb. 12, 2021
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Dr. Li-Meng Yan s assertion that China created the coronavirus in a lab in Wuhan was quickly challenged by major scientific journals.Photo for The Washington Post by Jackie Molloy f
Scientists from Johns Hopkins, Columbia and other leading American universities moved with rare speed when a Chinese virologist, Li-Meng Yan, published an explosive paper in September claiming that China had created the deadly coronavirus in a research lab.
The paper, the American scientists concluded, was deeply flawed. And a new online journal from MIT Press - created specifically to vet claims related to covid-19 - reported Yan s claims were at times baseless and are not supported by the data just 10 days after she posted them.