Husted defends claim that COVID-19 came from a Chinese lab, calling it 'Wuhan virus' and last updated 2021-04-01 18:23:01-04 Ohioâs lieutenant governor believes the COVID-19 pandemic emerged from a conspiracy by the Chinese government, he said Thursday, and heâs not sorry about referring to the novel coronavirus as the âWuhan virusâ â a phrase Asian communities have derided as racist and inflammatory â in a March 26 tweet. âMy words were directed at what I believe is a probable cover-up by the Chinese government for a virus that has killed 2.7 million people around the globe,â he said during a news conference about the COVID-19 pandemic in Ohio. âIt has disrupted the lives of nearly every person on the planet. ⦠What happened there is why weâre today, why people are doing this all over the world, and I believe that there needs to be an independent investigation into it.â