BEIJING -- Claims promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump that the novel coronavirus leaked from a lab in Wuhan are a "pure fabrication," according to the institute's director.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology first received the new virus strain in a clinical sample Dec. 30, the lab's director, Wang Yanyi, told state broadcaster CCTV in an interview aired Sunday, flatly denying the allegation.
Shi Zhengli, director of the institute's center for emerging infectious diseases, has been nicknamed the "bat woman" for her expertise in bat-borne viruses. Although Shi's team has studied coronavirus samples from bats, Wang said the two strains are not particularly similar in genetic terms.
