World must investigate mounting evidence virus leaked from a lab

The US’s Deputy National Security Adviser, Matthew Pottinger, says the “most credible” theory about the origin of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is that it escaped from a lab in China, according to the Mail on Sunday.

For those wondering how seriously to take the statement of an official, however senior, in the Trump administration, it’s worth noting that the award-winning foreign correspondent and columnist Ian Birrell considers this “a significant intervention: Pottinger used to work in China, speaks Mandarin, has been following this closely from the start and liaising with his brother, who is a virologist”.

Below we post Birrell’s own article for the Mail on Sunday, The world must investigate all the mounting evidence Covid leaked from a Wuhan lab. And Alina Chan, a molecular biologist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard who is quoted in Birrell’s article, advises those who regard the Mail as a less than trustworthy source to, “follow the journalist. If the journalist proves again and again to be reliable, then it doesn’t matter which platform they publish on.” She adds, “I feel quite confident about this story.”