The famed Chinese virologist, Shi Zhengli, from Wuhan, China, warned that the coronavirus pandemic is “just the tip of the iceberg” in terms of outbreaks of unknown viruses.

Zhengli, also dubbed as China’s “bat woman” because of her research on SARS-like viruses found in bats in her laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, shared her statements to CGTN, a Chinese news station.

Zhengli said that the unknown viruses that they have discovered are just actually the tip of the iceberg, adding that if we want to protect humans and avoid a second pandemic caused by infectious diseases, “we must go in advance to learn of these unknown viruses carried by wild animals in nature and then give early warnings.” She also warned that if we don’t keep on studying the viruses, there will possibly be another worldwide outbreak.

Zhengli used her research on the SARS pathogen and coronaviruses to complete the gene sequencing of the latest coronavirus strain at the beginning of 2020. The virologist also claimed that they submitted the whole genome sequence of the coronavirus to the World Health Organization (WHO) on January 12, 2020.

However, there was a delay in warning the WHO because apparently, Zhengli was “muzzled” by Chinese authorities. According to a Chinese journalist, Gao Yu, in an interview with the Daily Mail, Zhengli’s lab was able to finish gene-sequencing as early as January 2 but was muzzled.

In another report, Zhengli also reportedly revealed in an online lecture that her team found that the new coronavirus strain could infect people on January 14, six days before China revealed the information.

Chinese National Commission’s science and education department’s Liu Dengfeng told the South China Morning Post that samples of the new coronavirus were ordered to be destroyed at unauthorized labs to prevent the risk and secondary disasters.

Liu defended China’s move, saying that they only did that in accordance with China’s standard practice for handling dangerous virus samples. He also added that labs that did not meet the safety requirements should not have any samples.

Although China is conducting an ongoing investigation as to the origins of the virus, the WHO has yet to be invited. “The origins of the virus are very important; the animal-human interface is extremely important and needs to be studied,” said the WHO representative for China.

There is growing criticism across the world against China and its involvement and handling of the coronavirus. The Communist country has been accused of withholding crucial information from health authorities like the WHO and of releasing false statistics concerning the number of confirmed cases and deaths in their country.