In 2022, in a forested area of northern Thailand, virologist Meriadeg Le Gouil and biologist Pipat Soissok are collecting specimens and droppings from a colony of rhinolophids for analysis. They hope to learn whether these bats, which harbor viruses similar to SARS-CoV-2, were able to transmit the virus to an animal host, which in turn infected humans. The other hypothesis concerning the origin of Covid-19 is that of a laboratory escape. In 2021, after months of fruitless waiting, a delegation of WHO experts finally arrived in Wuhan, where the virus had spread from. They visited the now-closed former indoor market, where live animals were traded, and the Institute of Virology, although no laboratory safety specialists were among their members.
