[Report from the press conference of the State Council Office]
Guangming Daily, Beijing, July 22nd, by Guangming Daily reporter Yuan Yufei
On July 22nd, the State Council held a press conference on the traceability of Covid-19. Xu Nanping, Vice Minister of Science and Technology, Ceng Yixin, Deputy Director of the National Health and Wellness Commission, Wang Chen, Vice President of China Academy of Engineering, Dean of Peking Union Medical College and Director of the National Respiratory Medicine Center, Liang Wannian, Chinese leader of the China-World Health Organization joint research group on Covid-19 traceability, Yuan Zhiming, director of Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory of Chinese Academy of Sciences and researcher of Wuhan Institute of Virology, and other authoritative experts actively responded to the hot issues of the traceability of the new coronavirus concerned by Chinese and foreign media.
On July 21, at a testing point in Xuanwu District, Nanjing, medical staff were conducting nucleic acid testing and sampling for the citizens. Xinhua News Agency reporter Ji Chunpeng photo
Q: Is the report on global traceability in Covid-19 released by the World Health Organization on March 30th authoritative?
Ceng Yixin:The problem of virus traceability is a complex scientific problem. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, every responsible country and every responsible scientist is eager to find out the source of Covid-19. This is of great significance to prevent similar epidemics from happening again.
On March 30th this year, the World Health Organization officially released the joint research report "Global Traceability Research in Covid-19: Part of China" convened by WHO, and the global traceability research made a good start.
Governments, scientists and the media all over the world are very concerned about this report. Since its release a few months ago, more and more scientific evidence shows that this report is valuable, authoritative and can stand the test of science and history. The conclusion of the report is scientific, and the process of production always adheres to scientific principles.
This traceability research report is the China part of the global traceability research. The expert group draws the following conclusions: Coronavirus, which is closely related to Covid-19, has the highest homology with Covid-19 in terms of sequence, but these viruses are still not enough to prove that they are the direct ancestors of Covid-19, and there is still a certain gap. Combined with the research results of clinical epidemiology, animal and environmental detection, the joint expert group finally determined several possibilities for the virus to appear: the first one is "possible to relatively possible", and zoonosis directly overflows, that is, it directly overflows from animal hosts to people. The second is "more likely to be very likely", which is introduced through an intermediate host. Generally speaking, the natural host of the virus is an animal, and then it transits to people through the intermediate host. The third is "possibility", which is introduced through the cold chain. In some sporadic epidemics in various places last year, it was found that cold chain transmission may introduce viruses. The last one is the introduction of "extremely unlikely" in the laboratory.
In the next stage, the traceability work should be carried out under the overall coordination of WHO, and on the basis of the first stage of research, excellent experts from many countries should be organized to carry out in-depth work, scientists should be the mainstay, exchanges and cooperation should be strengthened, and the traceability work in Covid-19 should be carried out on a scientific track.
Q: Is Covid-19 naturally produced or caused by human factors?
Ceng Yixin:I really want to talk about my views on the second phase of the virus traceability plan released by WHO on July 15th. To tell you the truth, I was very surprised. Because in this plan, the hypothesis that "China violated laboratory regulations and caused virus leakage" is one of the research focuses. From this point, I can feel the disrespect for common sense and arrogant attitude towards science revealed in this plan. It is impossible for us to accept such a traceability plan.
What is the purpose of traceability? It is to find out the source of the virus and then take effective measures to prevent similar epidemics from happening again. Therefore, we must promote this work in accordance with scientific principles and rules. This is the attitude of the China Municipal Government.
So far, none of the staff and graduate students of Wuhan Institute of Virology has been infected with COVID-19. Wuhan Institute of Virology has not carried out research on the gain function of coronavirus, and there is no so-called artificial virus. So where did the virus leak due to violation of laboratory regulations come from? Therefore, this formulation violates both common sense and scientific laws. More importantly, the WHO expert group personally visited Wuhan Virus Institute, and reached the conclusion that the virus is extremely unlikely to be leaked from the laboratory. They are all very authoritative and experienced experts in various fields carefully selected by WHO. So we should respect their conclusions.
Yuan Zhiming:The Wuhan Institute of Virology has repeatedly responded to the rumors about the leakage of virus laboratories. Covid-19 originated from nature, which has become a general consensus in academic circles. I want to emphasize that before December 30, 2019, Wuhan Institute of Virology had not contacted, preserved or studied Covid-19. Wuhan Virus Research Institute has never designed, manufactured or leaked Covid-19.
Facing the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, Wuhan Institute of Virology quickly identified novel coronavirus with the advantages of platform, technology and talents accumulated for a long time, isolated the virus strain, determined the whole genome sequence, and submitted the whole genome sequence to the United Nations World Health Organization on January 12, 2020. These important research results have provided a foundation for the global antiviral drug screening and vaccine research, and also won time for the global fight against the epidemic.
Q: Is the original data of early communication in Wuhan public?
Yuan Zhiming:The structure and content of the database of Wuhan Institute of Virology are still in the process of continuous improvement. At present, the database is shared within Wuhan Institute of Virology. After analyzing and systematically sorting out some original data in the database, the staff will publish the research results in the form of papers, and display and retrieve them in the database in a visual way. After analyzing and sorting out the original data of scientific research, it will be published in the form of papers, and then the database will be made public. This is the practice of scientific and technological circles, and the Institute of Virology will strictly follow the rules of scientific and technological circles to display and share our scientific data.
Wuhan Institute of Virology has always insisted on the timely sharing of scientific research information, and we released the whole genome sequence to the World Health Organization in time. As early as February 3, 2020, Shi Zhengli’s research team published a research paper in Nature, proposing that Covid-19 came from nature. After we found that several drugs have antiviral activity at the cellular level, we published the research results in international magazines on February 4. At the same time, Wuhan Virus Research Institute also actively participated in the international video and audio conference held by the World Health Organization, and timely shared our research results in animal model establishment, antiviral drug screening, inactivated vaccine development in COVID-19, etc.
Q: What do you think about the possibility of virus spread caused by trade in cold chain products?
Wang Chen:The role of cold chain in the spread of infectious diseases is a new phenomenon. From Beijing Xinfadi epidemic situation and Qingdao epidemic situation, we can see such a close relationship, that is, the patients have been exposed to the cold chain, and no other possible virus sources have been found outside the cold chain.
In the detection of virus nucleic acid, cold chain goods nucleic acid detection is positive. Especially in the Qingdao epidemic, not only the virus nucleic acid positive was detected on the surface of cold chain items, but also the virus was isolated and cultured, which confirmed that there was a live virus on the surface of cold chain items. Combining these two points, the chain of evidence is gradually complete.
In the process of further virus traceability, we especially suggest that the cold chain should be regarded as a key traceability clue. At present, under the background of international trade, people and goods exchange frequently all over the world, and people in the cold chain environment — The spread of things has increased the complexity, which is particularly worthy of investigation and research.
Guangming Daily (July 23, 2021, 09 edition)
