Who did it?
Two weeks ago, there was a news story in the local newspaper about the possibility that some lab workers at the COVID lab in Wuhan, China were taken to the hospital in November of 2019. This story implies that COVID-19 was alive and kicking in November 2019, and people in a lab were the initial spreaders of the virus. This story contradicts the theory that COVID-19 came from an animal market in China where animals were sold that were infected with the disease.
To me, this lab story is alarming. First of all, I am alarmed by the idea that the disease came from a lab and that people were aware of it. Secondly, the idea that the disease was spreading as early as November 2019 and people were aware of that as well.
This past week, the president decided to open up a broader study into the source of the COVID-19 epidemic. No, he did not read the article in my local paper. More and more people and news agencies (like Reuters) are noticing that there seem to be inconsistencies in the animal market vs. lab story. The president wants to see if he can shed some light on what the real truth is.
Personally, so far I believe that COVID-19 came from animals in a market. I don’t want to place blame on anyone. Well, I don’t want to place blame on anyone specifically - as in a specific person knew of the illness and was negligent. An argument has been made that if the government in China had cracked down on wild animals being sold in the market, the pandemic wouldn’t have happened. I read an article last year that explained why the Chinese are fond of these animals. Apparently, last century when people in China were starving and their government wasn’t providing food for them, people turned to wild animals for meat to survive. Some of these animals (like bats) ended up becoming a delicacy for people. So a demand was created for these animals.
Based on that story, who is to blame here? The government that hasn’t been feeding its hungry people for over 50 years? The government of today for not regulating the meats that get sold at open markets? To me, this is like wondering whether or not we should blame Henry Ford for creating the car that creates the emissions that are creating the gases destroying our climate. Or do we blame the food industry for creating processed foods that allow food to be available to those in low income areas and areas with minimal food availability? These same foods are being accused of causing illness and obesity within our communities. But let’s not get me going on my thoughts on the “obesity epidemic 😊.”
So, I do have some friends who came to their own conclusions from this story in the local paper. Even before the story broke, they believe that COVID-19 was created in a lab, and the virus got out of the lab. Some believe it was intentional; a group of people wanted to threaten our society with a deadly disease. Others believe it was just negligence, and now it’s a cover-up.
120 years ago, would we have heard about COVID-19? Probably not. 120 years ago, the world and China were not as connected as they are today. People weren’t flying back and forth everyday. Highways weren’t what they are now. Communities weren’t as far reaching. People didn’t connect as much. So would anyone have cared in 1900 that there were people dying in China? Would we be wondering when the pandemic started and how it started?
The 1918 Spanish Flu (which was first identified in the US) was spread by WWI. Both the military campgrounds in the US and then the spread of military personnel in Europe and Africa helped to make this flu a multinational pandemic. Apparently, WWI censors minimized reports of the outbreak to keep the news from impacting morale. Obviously this censorship caused much more harm than good. So what repatriation was received from these censors?
Getting back to COVID-19, now I am starting to question my own story. Did the the virus start in an outdoor animal market? Or did it really start in a lab? It is common knowledge that the Chinese government tried to suppress the information that people were initially dying from COVID-19. Who wants to spread bad news and negligence about their country? Certainly the US didn’t when the Spanish Flu was spreading. But this was different. Now, the world is a lot smaller. If a serious illness develops in one part of the world, the chances of spreading around the world is much higher. So were the Chinese more responsible by not sharing this information than the US was in 1918? I think they were both irresponsible. I also believe countries like the US are responsible for the irresponsible behaviors around climate change and mistreating natives. But we don’t see much accountability in those areas either.
Now, would the Chinese government be “more wrong” in not sharing with us that the virus started in a lab? Well, they would have both suppressed information AND lied about the source of the virus. That could certainly damage their relationship with the world and the level of trust they receive.
I’m also wondering about my own beliefs. Since the beginning of the pandemic, I have held strongly to the belief that the virus started in an animal market. When stories came up about the virus being an intentional weapon, I balked. I mean China NEEDS us to keep their economy alive. Who else would buy all their stuff? But I also balked upon hearing stories that the virus was created in a lab until recently. That’s when the news sources I rely on started to question the source of the virus. The WHO dismissed the lab-leak theory. The Washington Post, NY Times, and other “reputable” journalists were dismissing the lab-leak theory. Now, these organizations are starting to question their truth. That’s where I wonder about my own beliefs. Is it right for me to stand behind the “reputable” sources blindly? When should I be questioning my own truth? I’m not sure.
One thing I did learn from a board game my son gave me a few years ago (called, “Pandemic”) is that fighting a pandemic is only successful when we all work together. In the game, each player plays a specific role: researcher, quarantine expert, science expert, medic, and so on to help squash the pandemic. The only way to win this game is if all the players win. It is a cooperative game to save humanity. Does censoring information about a pandemic help to save humanity? Hell no.
I’ve heard people say that the pandemic is almost over. Is that true? Maybe in first world nations. I’ve heard people say that there won’t be another pandemic for another 100 years, because that’s how pandemics work. I’m not so sure. As a planet, we have never been so connected as we are now. So the chances of an isolated illness spreading today are much higher than they were 120 years ago. That means we need to be more diligent in identifying these illnesses and less dismissive in sharing the information. That is where I want to see energy being spent. I worry less about pointing the finger and more about how we get effective communication going. I’d like to read the news story about how that communication can happen.
