‘Scientists should know Covid-19's exact origin to mitigate the pandemic'

Harvard University epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch is among scientists calling for a closer investigation into Covid 19’s origin. Lipsitch spoke to Srijana Mitra Das at Times Evoke about why this is vital:

- Srijana Mitra

Why are scientific calls for a deeper investigation into Covid-19’s origins growing now?

Many of us were quite disturbed by the inadequate treatment of this question in a WHO report that came out recently — that concern bubbled up in the form of our letter in the journal Science and in other expressions in the press. There is a growing concern among scientists that the question has not been treated carefully enough. For those calling for an investigation, the need to know a definitive answer has become clearer as the lack of evidence has become clearer.

What is the scientific benefit of knowing the exact origin of Covid-19?

When a rare event like this pandemic occurs, it is essential to investigate every possible cause in order to find mitigations and preventions. If Covid-19 turns out to be a zoonotic spillover, then we can learn a lot from that. People are currently spending millions of dollars to assess spillover risks of viruses in nature — this would then be one of the few data points we’d have of a spillover with a pandemic arising from it.

DISCOVERIES

However, if Covid-19 is of a laboratory origin, that raises issues of biosafety in labs and how to take steps to improve that. We have to make our investments in scientific research account for both their monetary costs and their risks.

What arguments could support the manufacture of harmful viruses in labs?