Impacts of the Lab Leak Theory: How It Shaped America's Fight Against COVID

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American Politics

COVID-19 was a very politically charged topic, what should have been just about keeping people safe became an ongoing debate on what the government was allowed to do. There was never a unified way that America handled COVID-19. Mask guidelines were different from state to state, even from county to county. Though there was a central voice (the CDC), as they got more information their guidelines changed and updated, which was not taken very well by the American people.

Despite there being supporters and non-believers from both the Democratic and Republican parties; the first few people speaking out in support of the lab leak theory were republicans, and the first few people dismissing the theory were democrats. This contributed largely to the theory being considered in the early days of COVID-19 because it was seen as a politicized theory as opposed to something to look into.

Fear and uncertainty drive this theory, whether it is true or not. When people fear for their lives, they often end up trying to find someone or something to blame. This happens quite frequently when a new disease is present. A similar phenomenon happened with HIV, and with the Zika virus - where people believed HIV was created to kill black people and the mosquitoes that spread Zika were used on purpose to spread the disease.

Roland Imhoff and Pia Lamberty published an article titled "A Bioweapon or a Hoax? The Link Between Distinct Conspiracy Beliefs About the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak and Pandemic Behavior" where they cited a survey conducted about the theories of COVID-19. "The results showed that 49% claimed that the coronavirus is a man-made epidemic. In contrast, 44% thought that the threat of the coronavirus is being exaggerated for political reasons and 13% were convinced that the coronavirus is a hoax (Frankovic, 2020)." (Imhoff, et al. 2020). This fear and uncertainty that leads to conspiracy theories furthers the divide between American citizens. Those who believe in the theory and those who don't.

Today

Despite much back and forth, a conclusion on the origin of COVID-19 has not yet been found. It is commonly agreed upon by scientists that a natural origin is most likely, COVID-19 being transmitted from an animal host to humans (like many coronaviruses before).

Although the pandemic is considered "over" now, the impacts of it are longstanding. From political distrust on a community level, to long-term health issues from the virus on an individual level. An answer to the origin of the virus doesn't prevent what the world went through with the COVID-19 pandemic. You will hopefully be comforted to know that there is much research that still goes in to figuring out the origin of the disease. It could take years to completely rule out a lab leak but to quote many scientists before me, a lab leak is a "highly unlikely" theory.

I encourage you to do your own research on matters such as these, instead of blindly following what others say - you might find something that surprises you.

College Students on the Lab Leak Theory (Part Three of Three)

https://youtu.be/xoNxsu4XnYo