Wuhan lab yields Covid patient zero
Confirmation that a junior scientist at the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s coronavirus unit is likely to be patient zero of the Covid-19 pandemic again proves that obvious answers can sometimes be the best. It also shows how an incurious media guided by ideology does a disservice to society. Too many, including the ABC’s Media Watch, were eager to dismiss the theory that the pandemic may have been started by an inadvertent leak from the Wuhan facility out of deference to the Chinese Communist Party. The World Health Organisation allowed itself to be similarly bullied by the CCP, which went to extraordinary lengths to obstruct and punish those who called for a forensic investigation into the origins of the virus. The Morrison government’s call for a proper investigation resulted in bans on Australian exports to China and an intense period of diplomatic hostility from Beijing.
With the virus still spreading but largely under control, the damage bill from the pandemic continues to mount. The official WHO estimate is that 6,943,390 people died from 767,984,989 confirmed cases, as of June 10. The financial cost is impossible to calculate but it has left countries across the world saddled with billions of dollars of unnecessary debt. The inflation problem that is driving interest rates higher around the world and crimping global economic growth can in part be traced to trade disruptions and the actions taken by governments in response to the pandemic. The emotional scars of extended lockdowns and missed childhood experiences will take a generation to heal.
But as the emergency phase of Covid continues to ease, investigations continue into how it came about. The latest report is that three unknown Chinese scientists working inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s coronavirus unit fell sick with Covid-like symptoms around November 2019. One of them, a relatively junior scientist, had started a new project earlier that year examining whether two new bat coronaviruses could infect humans.
The Biden administration has shown itself prepared to dig for answers in a way that WHO was unable to. Our reporting, led by Sharri Markson, has led the way globally to ensure the Covid lab leak theory was properly explored. Other media outlets that campaigned against investigation into a lab leak must interrogate their biases. The CCP must co-operate with investigations into what really happened at the Wuhan Institute. The lessons of Covid-19 must be learned to save lives in future and stop the same thing happening again.