[RummyChick]

I posted this a long time ago. The living organism was a mouse.
It did not die at least at the time of what I found.

The scientist has been quoted about this new virus but I don’t remember
what he said.

[Rockingham]

The experiment was modest but ominous in its implications as a proof of concept. My guess is that what China is hiding is that the Wuhan outbreak was of a lab-created virus strain that escaped due to major, chronic violations of containment protocols.

Supposedly, instead of disposing of expended test animals by incineration as required, the staff of the lab sometimes took the carcasses for food or for sale as food. This would have provided a distressingly easy route for unintentional transmission of a novel engineered pathogen.

This scenario is made more credible by China's closing of the Wuhan virus lab and the firing of the staff pending reopening after "rectification." This indicates that the Chinese leadership was alarmed at what their internal investigation found and decided on a thorough house-cleaning.

A coverup is necessary because otherwise, China would experience a near-comprehensive, world-wide suspension of cooperation by the pathogen labs of developed nations. China would then be required to submit to detailed, humiliating inspections and verification of their lab containment practices.

My guess is that much of that will more or less happen anyway, if with less drama and public embarassment for China. The world's virologists and public health experts are not fools and probably have a good idea of what happened at Wuhan. China's slipshod and dishonest ways are a global menace and cannot continue to be accommodated.