Why would a COVID lab run by a shady Chinese company be operating in Reedley, CA in the central San Joaquin Valley? The lab, which was supposed to be an empty building, was discovered by Reedley city code enforcement officers when they saw a garden hose attached to the building and investigated.
Darren Fraser at the MidValley Times reported earlier this week that the building has been illegally operated since October 2022 by Wang Zhaolin of Prestige Biotech, and the lab was used to produce COVID-19 tests and pregnancy tests.
City of Reedley officials called in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the FBI, the State Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), the State Department of Health, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Fresno County Department of Public Health (FCDPH).
“Reedley officials and personnel from CDPH and FCDPH executed a warrant on March 16 to inspect the warehouse at 850 I Street,” MidValley Times reported. “According to a declaration from Humero Prado, Assistant Director of Fresno County Public Health, which was filed in superior court, investigators discovered that one room of the warehouse was used to produce COVID-19 and pregnancy tests. In other rooms, investigators found blood, tissue and other bodily fluid samples. They also found thousands of vials that contained unlabeled fluids.”
And they found 900 genetically engineered mice, engineered to catch and carry COVID-19, living in “inhumane” conditions. 773 of the mice had to be euthanized, and officials found another 178 mice already dead.
The company alleged to be running the lab, Prestige BioTech, is based out of Nevada and is the successor to Universal Meditech, Inc (UMI). In Dec. 2022, the FDA announced a recall over 56,000 “Skippack Medical Lab” Rapid Anti-Gen COVID-19 tests distributed by UMI to California and Texas.
Another representative of Prestige BioTech, David He, dodged questions regarding accountability and ownership of the company and whether or not they were properly disposing of the hundreds of dead mice. Prestige would not confirm if the biologics contained in the lab were theirs.
Prestige BioTech was able to operate 35 freezers and refrigeration devices without anyone questioning the electrical draw that would be required for a building that “was supposed to be vacant,” according to City Manager Nicole Zieba. When investigators entered the building on July 5th, however, the power to the refrigerators and freezers “was lost” but the biological samples were still frozen.
Agents also found thousands of package boxes – many with shipping labels from China. Below is a photo included in court documents in California.
Leaked photos below:
Investigators inspected the building that contained the lab in July and found a room used to make COVID-19 tests and pregnancy tests. They also found over 35 freezers and refrigeration units that contained “thousands of bodily fluids, serums, tissues, and other medical items.”
We have a few questions:
Why was a Chinese company making COVID-19 tests in California?
Where were these tests to be used? California public health agencies? Medical groups and hospitals?
Is the California Department of Public Health involved?
Who authorized this lab?
What does the Newsom administration know about this?
