China on Monday refuted the report claiming that researchers at a Wuhan lab were ill in autumn 2019 with COVID-19-like symptoms.

According to the Wall Street Journal, three researchers from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences sought hospital care in November 2019. 

The lab's statement released on March 23, 2021, showed that there were zero COVID-19 infections at Wuhan Institute of Virology, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson from the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday.