White House touts Covid-19 'lab leak' theory on new website

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16. Thank you for that reminder. It is an important fact.

Exclusive: U.S. slashed CDC staff inside China prior to coronavirus outbreak

By Marisa Taylor
March 25, 2020 11:52 PM UTC

WASHINGTON(Reuters) - The Trump administration cut staff by more than two-thirds at a key U.S. public health agency operating inside China, as part of a larger rollback of U.S.-funded health and science experts on the ground there leading up to the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters has learned.

Most of the reductions were made at the Beijing office of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and occurred over the past two years, according to public CDC documents viewed by Reuters and interviews with four people familiar with the drawdown.

The Atlanta-based CDC, America’s preeminent disease fighting agency, provides public health assistance to nations around the world and works with them to help stop outbreaks of contagious diseases from spreading globally. It has worked in China for 30 years.

The CDC’s China headcount has shrunk to around 14 staffers, down from approximately 47 people since President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, the documents show. The four people, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the losses included epidemiologists and other health professionals.

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https://www.reuters.com/article/world/exclusive-us-slashed-cdc-staff-inside-china-prior-to-coronavirus-outbreak-idUSKBN21C3NE/