Covid’s origins and a disturbing Nature study

Ever since the world was forced into lockdown in March 2020, the question of where and how Covid-19 appeared has captivated scientists and the wider public. 

Tracing the source of the virus could be invaluable in preventing future pandemics, yet the quest to find Covid’s origins has been deeply politicised, which in turn has altered the course of research, collaboration and dialogue. Sadly, as a recent publication by Chinese scientists in Nature shows, we are still a long way from getting to the bottom of what happened in Wuhan in 2020. 

The problems with finding the origins of the virus began almost as soon as the potential significance of Covid was realised. Soon after the outbreak in Wuhan, the Huanan wet market – where Covid is believed to have crossed from animals to humans – was closed and Chinese scientists took swabs from around the market, including wildlife cages, but kept this information secret from the world. Before these swabs were taken, no attempt was made to test the actual animals sold at the market at the time of the outbreak, or to trace where those animals had been taken.