State Department cables warned of safety issues at Wuhan lab studying bat coronaviruses

[Ford_Prefect]

3. Mrs. Oleary's Cow Theory seems far less likely than an instutional failure in a dangerous field IMHO

Last edited Tue Apr 14, 2020, 03:39 PM - Edit history (1)

I live 6 miles from the Rocky Mountain Lab. Oops is not supposed to ever be able to happen there, either.

At one time I lived downwind of another great facility which we were assured was safe. Dangerous materials were said to be handled with the greatest caution and care by dedicated, serious professionals. The most sophisticated and rigorous methods were applied to assure that nothing bad could escape and harm the public or the planet.

And then one day the wrong things, which were never, ever supposed to happen, despite the best intentions and practices of all of those dedicated professionals, did just that. More than half a million people were evacuated from the immediate area. Those of us who were a bit further down wind still do not know how much we were exposed to or what actually was released.

My point is that complicated systems do occasionally fail no matter the level of disaster proofing applied or the dedication and professionalism of those responsible to operate them.

Given the almost daily revelations regarding appropriate safe distancing and the durability of the virus, along with similar rolling revelations about the apparent range of degree of infection, symptoms and side effects, it seems to me far more likely that the research facility may have underestimated or misunderstood critical aspects of the virus, and so mishandled some aspect of the research they were doing.

One person's opinion to be sure. But all the same...