Will the US succeed in finding the origins of COVID-19?

Conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19 have been circulating since the start of the pandemic that has killed more than 3.5 million people.

Speculation it was caused by a laboratory accident in the Chinese city of Wuhan has recently regained currency, after President Joe Biden ordered United States intelligence agencies to find out more. Biden has also urged the World Health Organization to launch a second investigation.

Earlier this year, a WHO report concluded the lab theory was “extremely unlikely“; while acknowledging its scientists faced difficulties getting access to data from China.

Beijing has already dismissed the US inquiry – saying it is disrespectful to science.

So, can America’s intelligence agencies succeed where health experts have failed so far?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Victor Gao – Vice President of the Center for China and Globalization think-tank

Jeffrey Lazarus – Former WHO official and head of the Health Systems Research Group at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health

Dr Hakim Djaballah – Virologist and CEO of Keren Therapeutics in New York