Wuhan Institute of Virology

Wuhan which became the first epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak also has a Research Institute of Virology. Immediately after the news of coronavirus outbreak, the Institute was rumored to be a bioweapon research laboratory and there were concerns worldwide that it was the source of the outbreak through accidental leakage, which it publicly refuted. Though virus experts have observed that “the mutations [in the virus] are completely consistent with natural evolution,”(ruling out bioweapon attack) they agree that a laboratory accident cannot be ruled out completely.