Most, if not all of you, will have received a communication from Andre Goffinet who is trying hard to add to the rumors that the virus causing COVID-19 leaked from a lab in the Virology Institute in Wuhan.  A recent, apparently well-argued article by Nicholas Wade (attached) professes neutrality, but really just tries by innuendo to promote this view that the virus leaked from the Wuhan lab.  One victim of this Chinese lab origin campaign is Peter Daszak whom we all supported when he lost his grant.  He has been harassed continually, received death threats and is hounded by the Republicans in Congress.  All because he has been working for years to study bat viruses in collaboration with scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.  I attach a short piece that Peter wrote about recent events, including a rebuttal of some of Wade's claims and a separate document outlining the events that took place and are relevant to the termination of his grant.

Finally, I might add that Goffinet wrote to me about a month ago, implying that because I have organized conferences in China I might too be part of the conspiracy to present the Chinese view of events.  As a result, he would like you to believe that I solicited your help merely to support Peter and the Chinese.  This is simply untrue.  He failed to mention that the clear purpose of our statement was to decry the political interference in stopping the funding of a peer-reviewed grant.

Rich