At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the assumption spread that the virus originated from a wild animal market in Wuhan. This narrative was adopted early on by many media outlets, shaping public perception. In reality, however, the origin of the virus was scientifically unclear for a long time and is still the subject of intensive research today.
Since 2025, it has become known that the German Federal Intelligence Service and the German government at the time had knowledge of a possible origin in a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan. Instead of transparent and open reporting, a strict narrative was maintained. These types of factoids undermine the findings of evidence-based research.
Source:
Maxmen, Amy & Mallapaty, Smriti; The COVID lab-leak hypothesis: what scientists do and don't know; in: Nature 594 (2021); doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-01529-3.
Zempel, Christoph & et al; Merkel and Scholz kept report secret: BND considers laboratory accident as trigger for corona pandemic very likely; in: Tagesspiegel (2025), https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/brisante-bewertung-bisher-geheim-gehalten-bnd-halt-laborunfall-als-ausloser-fur-corona-pandemie-fur-wahrscheinlich-13353190.html.
Yoo, Jin-Hong; On the Controversies Surrounding the Lab-Leak Theory of COVID-19; in: Journal of Korean Medical Science 40:16 (2025), doi: 10.3346/jkms.2025.40.e153.
