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The Biden administration formally halted the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s access to US funding, citing unanswered safety and security questions for the facility at the center of the Covid lab leak theory. The Department of Health and Human Services notified the institute about the suspension on Monday and told the lab it’s seeking to cut it off permanently, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg News. An HHS review that started in September raised concern that the facility based in Wuhan, where Covid first emerged, is violating biosafety protocols and isn’t complying with US regulations. (Griffin, 7/19)

The action was taken on Monday following a months-long review that led the HHS to find that "WIV is not compliant with federal regulations and is not presently responsible", according to a memo from the department." The move was undertaken due to WIV's failure to provide documentation on WIV's research requested by NIH related to concerns that WIV violated NIH's biosafety protocols," an HHS spokesperson said in a statement. (7/19)

In other news —

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday lashed out at “groups with vested interests” who he claimed were spreading false assertions about the pandemic treaty and endangering the health of future generations.“ Groups with vested interests are claiming falsely that the accord is a power grab by WHO, and that it will stymie innovation and research. Both claims are completely false,” said Tedros. (Furlong, 7/19)