ABC’s Paul Barry and Norman Swan concede the Wuhun lab-leak theory is gaining support

Paul Barry, Norman Swan concede there is now compelling evidence to suggest a Wuhan lab may be the virus source having dismissed the idea.

ABC Media Watch host Paul Barry.

Two prominent ABC journalists, Media Watch host Paul Barry and health reporter Norman Swan, have conceded there is compelling evidence to support the theory that a Wuhan research lab may be the source of Covid-19 – having previously denied there was evidence to support that claim.

Norman Swan.

Barry, who has repeatedly criticised The Australian’s investigations writer Sharri Markson’s reporting on the Wuhan Institute of Virology, on Wednesday said there was “now expert support for the lab escape theory”.

That was a marked change of view from last May, when Barry told viewers: “We also think Markson should have told readers that almost every virus expert had dismissed the lab escape theory.”

“If the Wuhan lab proves to be the source of the Covid-19 outbreak, we will certainly update our viewers and apologise to Ms Markson for our criticism,” Barry said on Wednesday.

Barry said the Media Watch report last year criticising Markson’s investigation was simply “reflected the overwhelming consensus among experts that Covid-19 had a natural origin”.

Markson has produced a series of exclusive reports for The Australian, including revealing employees at the facility were hospitalised in November 2019 with symptoms consistent with Covid-19 in what may have been the first cluster. She has more recently reported that Chinese military scientists discussed the weaponisation of coronaviruses years before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sharri Markson. Picture: Adam Yip

READ MORE: By The Australian’s investigations editor Sharri Markson — US scientists caught in Wuhan intrigue | China Covid lab in first cluster | ‘Virus warfare in China military documents | Chinese military scientists held talks on bioweapon benefits | Lifting the lid on the Covid cover-up | Party insiders in the ranks: communists infiltrate Western consulates

Dr Swan, who has become a prominent pandemic commentator, has also shifted position.

Last May, Dr Swan said he had “looked into this and other journalists have looked into this as well as scientists and there really is very little evidence. It’s on the outer bounds of possibility, but really so unlikely that you could say … it’s not the case,” he said.

However, Dr Swan on Wednesday said “in recent weeks alternate views of the sequencing have emerged which are quite compelling and a growing number of respected scientists are making a good argument”.

The ABC's Dr Norman Swan has had quite the about-face on the origins of #COVID19pic.twitter.com/w3Sheq0W36

— Evan Mulholland (@evmulholland) May 26, 2021

He said his previous positions had not been definitive and he had never completely discounted the possibility (the virus leaked from the WIV)”.

The Wall Street Journal this week also reported three researchers from the WIV sought hospital care in November 2019, a month before the first official cases in China, citing intelligence reports.

Earlier this month, 18 scientists organised by researchers at Stanford and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, published a letter in Science arguing for a new investigation into what caused the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Theories of accidental release from a lab and zoonotic spillover both remain viable,” the May 14 letter reads. “Knowing how Covid-19 emerged is critical for informing global strategies to mitigate the risk of future outbreaks.”

Dr Swan, on ABC News Breakfast this week, credited the WSJ and The Age for reporting on the possibility Covid-19 leaked from the Wuhan research lab.

The report in The Age, written by US correspondent Matthew Knott, came 10 days after another piece in the paper written by reporters Anthony Galloway and Eryk Bagshaw attempted to discredit the lab theory despite conceding “the probability of a leak (is) as high as 40 per cent”.

Tory Maguire, national editor of The Age, said: “Neither piece drew firm conclusions.”

Raina MacIntyre, who heads the biosecurity program at the Kirby Institute, said there were concerns about Covid-19’s origins and the possibility of a lab leak. “It’s certainly possible and I’ve said that right from the start,” she said.