Covid 19: We need a full open independent investigation into its origins

Godlee, Fiona

[...]the fight against the virus continues around the world, with varying success (doi:10.1136/bmj.n1724, doi:10.1136/bmj.n1686).23 Despite cases in the UK rising exponentially, the government said it will lift all restrictions on 19 July (doi:10.1136/bmj.n1698).4 Trish Greenhalgh calls this a “colossal natural experiment which will put wave three of the pandemic into a super-exponential growth phase” (https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/07/06/trish-greenhalgh-freedom-day-but-at-what-cost).5 The nature of this crisis is virological not economic, she writes. Long covid is a growing concern (https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/07/06/we-must-take-long-covid-into-account-when-easing-covid-restrictions),7 though substantially under-reported in GP records (doi:10.1136/bmj.n1685).8 Young people make up an increasing proportion of those experiencing longer term illness, prompting calls to vaccinate children over the age of 12 (https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/07/06/we-should-shift-our-focus-from-covid-19-mortality-to-morbidity-particularly-in-children).9 The mood among our political leaders is that we should all now take personal responsibility, neatly releasing them from doing their bit to limit transmission (https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/06/29/after-restriction-why-the-public-can-only-fulfill-its-responsibilities-if-the-government-fulfills-theirs).10 The chaos and waste that has been NHS Test and Trace show no sign of abating, with the government refusing to properly support people who need to self-isolate and slow to expand the case definition to ensure that those who are most infectious get tested (doi:10.1136/bmj.n1625).11 While dropping almost all legal requirements, the government has, however, decided to impose one new legal stricture, that care workers must be vaccinated: an “unnecessary, disproportionate, and misguided” decision (doi:10.1136/bmj.n1684),12 when professionalisation and registration of care workers would do so much more good. [...]we still need to know how this worst in a century pandemic occurred, and for this we need a full, open, and independent investigation. 1 Thacker PD. The covid-19 lab leak hypothesis: did the media fall victim to a misinformation campaign? BMJ 2021;374: n1656. 2 Taylor L. Covid-19: Vaccine corruption allegations spark protests across Brazil.