The NYPost article is nothing more that a regurgitation of Rand Paul's rants against Dr. Fauci...even your biotech touchstone, Dr. Ebright acknowledges that there is no evidence that China weaponized COVID-19 and foisted it on the world...both he and Dr. Fauci accept the possibility of an accident, which is yet to be verified...all else is pure conjecture...the kind of stuff that sells NYP subscriptions.
This is admittedly risky research...Dr. Ebright is decidedly not comfortable with it...but Congress, over several decades, has accepted that risk...based on more than Dr. Fauci's word...many other researchers agree that it's necessary...just remember that pathogens are nasty critters and we need to find ways to get out in front of them...everyone wishes it weren't so...but that's the world we live in...
Link: https://www.factcheck.org/2021/07/scicheck-fauci-and-paul-round-2/