The world’s leading medical journal has conceded that the covid pandemic could have been sparked by a laboratory leak and admits that the virus may have been engineered by scientists.
It might seem a statement of the obvious in calling on global bodies to intensify efforts to determine if covid-19 came from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan or crossed over from animals infected with a bat virus. But this is a remarkable turnaround for the 199-year-old Lancet, which printed an infamous article condemning suggestions of a lab leak as ‘conspiracy theories’.
However, the journal – which says the world should take ‘seriously’ both main hypotheses – has also suggested the virus could be linked to laboratories in the US, provoking fears it is still promoting China’s cause rather than good science. Certainly the landmark report of the Lancet commission into covid-19 raises many issues, including the alleged stifling of scientific debate, the role of experts and the disturbing fear the West may be kowtowing to China’s dictatorship.