US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) former director, Robert Redfield, said that he believes the novel coronavirus “escaped” from a lab in Wuhan, China. In an interview with CNN, Redfield, who was CDC’s chief from 2018 till January 2021, said, “I’m of the point of view that I still think the most likely etiology of this pathogen in Wuhan was from a laboratory… escaped.”

Also read: China denies being epicentre of COVID-19 pandemic, points fingers at US military labs

“Other people don’t believe that, that’s fine. Science will eventually figure it out,” Redfield said.

He, however, stressed that the virus escape from Wuhan lab was his “opinion.”

It is widely believed that SARS-CoV-2, commonly known as novel coronavirus, jumped to humans from bats, or an intermediary, at a wet market in Wuhan.

“I do not believe this somehow came from a bat to a human,” Redfield said.

Explaining his “opinion”, CDC’s ex-chief said that normally, when a pathogen jumps from a zoonot to human, “it takes a while for it to figure out how to become more and more efficient.”

Redfield believes that the Wuhan lab was already studying the coronavirus and hence was exposed to human cell cultures. He also believes that the novel coronavirus started circulating in Wuhan in September, 2019.

Also read: No indication of COVID-19 virus in Wuhan before December 2019, says WHO

“If I had to guess this virus started transmitting in September/October in Wuhan. That’s my view… I’m allowed to have opinions,” Redfield told CNN.

On December 31, 2019, China informed the World Health Organisation (WHO) about cases of pneumonia of unknown origin in Wuhan.

A team of WHO experts visited Wuhan in January, this year, to investigate the origin of the virus. In its finding, the team ruled out that it escaped from a lab in Wuhan. The initial findings suggested that the virus jumped from bats to another animal and then to humans.

Also read: ‘Imperative that the report is independent’: US expresses concern over WHO findings in Wuhan

Meanwhile, speaking about Redfield’s comments, Anthony Fauci, the US’ infectious diseases expert, said that that was his “opinion.”

“Obviously, there are a number of theories,” Fauci said at a White House press briefing on Friday.

“Dr Redfield was mentioning that he was giving an opinion as to a possibility, but again, there are other alternatives – others, that most people hold by,” the expert added.

The US is the worst-hit nation by COVID-19. It has recorded over 30 million virus cases and 548,070 deaths, as per Johns Hopkins University’s tally.