Rand Paul Grills Fauci on Covid Origins as 2 Theories Remain Viable 6 Years On

1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 15

29 July testimony put Anthony Fauci through a hostile interrogation led by Senator Rand Paul, underscoring how sharply the Covid-19 origins debate has hardened rather than narrowed.
Six years after the Wuhan outbreak, both a natural spillover and a lab accident still remain plausible because no definitive virus source has been found in nature or in a lab.
NIH-backed bat coronavirus work in Wuhan did involve risky experiments, the article says, validating part of Paul's criticism, but published research still does not identify a plausible direct precursor to SARS-CoV-2.
Stanford microbiologist David Relman argues the fight now needs humility, a transparent international forensic investigation, and tighter guardrails on high-risk pathogen research to better prevent the next pandemic.