{"id":1920846,"date":"2023-04-28T12:11:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T16:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-worries-about-lab-safety-after-covid-pandemic\/"},"modified":"2023-04-28T12:14:43","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T16:14:43","slug":"house-worries-about-lab-safety-after-covid-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-worries-about-lab-safety-after-covid-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"House Worries About Lab Safety After COVID Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouse-worries-about-lab-safety-after-covid-pandemic%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1920846&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Experts Discuss Steps to Prevent Future Pandemics<\/h2>\n<div class=\"post_content\">\n<div class=\"aplayer_app\" data-source=\"https:\/\/vs1.youmaker.com\/assets\/2023\/0428\/d5458b54-6393-4f75-b7f3-15ee6958fe00\/audio.mp3?length=4222989&#038;duration=352\"><\/div>\n<p>Over three years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, biosafety experts told the House what steps might reduce the likelihood of a similar disaster.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe still do not know how the COVID-19 pandemic started. However, more information has heightened our suspicions that the origin of the pandemic was linked to a lab incident,\u201d said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, in her opening statement at an April 27 hearing of that committee\u2019s oversight subcommittee.<\/p>\n<p>The lab leak theory was often dismissed during the early stages of the pandemic, with Dr. Anthony Fauci <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/01\/11\/fauci-called-wuhan-lab-leak-theory-shiny-object-in-april-2020-email\/\">denouncing<\/a> the notion of a lab leak in April 2020 as a \u201cdestructive conspiracy theory.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4906932\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/12\/06\/GettyImages-1240725822-1200x800.jpg\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/12\/06\/GettyImages-1240725822-1200x800.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies during a senate subcommittee about funding matters on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 17, 2022.\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, testifies during a senate subcommittee about funding matters on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 17, 2022. (Shawn Thew\/Pool\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n<p>Yet, official opinions have shifted.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Energy and many scientists now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/lab-leak-only-explanation-for-covid-19-former-intelligence-director_5203110.html?ea_src=open&#038;ea_med=search\">believe COVID-19 originated with a lab leak<\/a> in China.<\/p>\n<p>A recent COVID-19 origins report released by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), a medical doctor, <a href=\"https:\/\/s3.documentcloud.org\/documents\/23782224\/senate-covid-19-origins-report.pdf\">concluded that<\/a> \u201cthe preponderance of information supports the plausibility of an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-coronavirus-origins-report-details-2019-china-biosafety-scramble-at-wuhan-lab\/\" title=\"GOP coronavirus origins report details 2019 China biosafety scramble at Wuhan lab\">unintentional research-related incident<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4209037\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/01\/12\/sen-marshall-2-1200x800.jpg\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/01\/12\/sen-marshall-2-1200x800.jpg\" alt=\"Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) walks on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 7, 2021.\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) walks on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 7, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-lab-leak_5039551.html\">Suspicions have fallen<\/a> on the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which received funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) via EcoHealth Alliance.<\/p>\n<p>Subcommittee Chair Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) said in his opening statement that NIH has \u201cstonewalled and slow-walked our document requests related to Ecohealth Alliance grants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Republicans criticized the NIH, Democrats used their opening remarks to defend America\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-worries-about-lab-safety-after-covid-pandemic\/\" title=\"House Worries About Lab Safety After COVID Pandemic\">major federal scientific institutions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe also need to discuss the training and safety measures that are already in place in high-containment labs to reduce risk,\u201d said Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), the committee\u2019s ranking member.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3533246\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2020\/10\/09\/GettyImages-1215626664.jpg\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2020\/10\/09\/GettyImages-1215626664.jpg\" alt=\"Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on May 27, 2020.\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on May 27, 2020. (Drew Angerer\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n<p>Several years after outspoken scientific defectors on the COVID-19 consensus faced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/dr-jay-bhattacharya-the-deadly-consequences-of-censorship_5082966.html\">censorship<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/mississippi-doctor-fired-for-prescribing-ivermectin-is-running-for-governor_5004939.html\">termination<\/a>, and other negative consequences for speaking out, Pallone told his colleagues that the current \u201ctenor\u201d of the debate on biosafety and biosecurity \u201cis having a chilling effect on scientific research.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have seen scientists, including some of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/troubling-psaki-responds-to-reports-cuomo-aides-edited-nursing-homes-report\/\" title=\"\u2018Troubling\u2019: Psaki Responds To Reports Cuomo Aides Edited Nursing Homes Report\">top public health officials<\/a>, maligned, marginalized, taken out of context, and accused of covering up the origins of COVID-19,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Subcommittee Ranking Member Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) suggested that some proposals floated by Republicans could undercut America\u2019s global leadership on science.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf America does not lead the world in infectious disease research, the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] will try to fill that role,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<h2>US vs World<\/h2>\n<p>Gregory Koblentz, an associate professor and biodefense expert at George Mason University, detailed the United States\u2019 performance on biosafety and biosecurity in <a href=\"https:\/\/d1dth6e84htgma.cloudfront.net\/Witness_Testimony_Koblentz_4_27_23_eac2d6040a.pdf?updated_at=2023-04-26T19:45:40.592Z\">written testimony<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On biosafety\u2013the specific practices used to handle biological agents at minimal risk\u2013the United States does well, along with most other countries Koblentz studied.<\/p>\n<p>On biosecurity\u2013the steps taken to \u201cprotect microbial agents from loss, theft, diversion or intentional misuse\u201d\u2013the U.S. is tied for #1, but the global<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over three years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, biosafety experts told the House what steps might reduce the likelihood of a similar disaster. \u201cWe still do not know how the COVID-19 pandemic started. However, more information has heightened our suspicions that the origin of the pandemic was linked to a lab incident,\u201d said<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":1920847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[4127,3653,8459,4828,8390,12369],"class_list":["post-1920846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-covid","tag-house","tag-lab","tag-pandemic","tag-safety","tag-worries"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1920846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1920846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1920846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1920847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1920846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1920846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1920846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}