Where did the coronavirus come from? A physicist accuses Christian Drosten of cover-up. However, the virologist does not let that sit on his own.
Berlin – Virologist Christian Drosten has to put up with strong headwinds almost every day. In addition to his professorship at the Charité in Berlin, he is also a member of the Federal Government’s Expert Council on the Corona crisis. Drosten is also not above representing his opinion in interviews, podcasts and again and again on Twitter with sharp words. That makes him a target.
The virologist Klaus Stöhr recently sharply criticized Drosten’s omicron prognosis and the virologist has already clashed with the Bild newspaper. Now the conservative magazine Cicero has published an interview that takes the corona expert in the crossfire. In focus: the origin of the corona virus.
Virologist Drosten criticized: Physicist accuses him of misleading in the corona pandemic
In its online edition, the magazine headlines in large letters that Drosten misled politicians and the media. This is a quote from Roland Wiesendanger, a physicist at the University of Hamburg. Wiesendranger accuses Drosten of concealment in an interview. Together with US virologist Anthony Fauci and other researchers, he covered up the origin of the corona virus. According to the physicist, the most likely origin is in a laboratory in Wuhan.
The fact is: There is not just one, but many, many different theories about the origin of the corona virus. The origin of Sars-CoV-2 is repeatedly exploited by politicians and states. However, according to studies by the WHO, the majority of researchers around the world assume a very probable animal origin. However, scientists around the world consider a laboratory accident, such as Donald Trump repeatedly brought up, to be unlikely.
Corona origin – Drosten reacts to allegations and becomes clear
Christian Drosten has already commented on a possible origin of the corona virus. In an interview with the Swiss Republic magazine, he explained: “For me, this idea of a research accident is extremely unlikely because it would be much too complicated”. Especially not from the Wuhan Virology Institute, because this is serious. An animal origin of the corona virus is much more likely, according to the virologist. In view of the physicist’s allegations, Drosten reacts – and is now defending himself on Twitter.
“Cicero offers an extreme character the stage and provokes personal attacks against me through suggestive questions,” emphasizes the scientist in a tweet and becomes clear: “Answers are left in the area of hints and evaluation, reliable factual claims are avoided. That’s not an interview, it’s an incident.” Another aspect caught Drosten’s eye: “Also striking: in the NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, editor’s note) an interview with the same content, right down to the wording, was published at the same time. Is anyone running a campaign here?”.
Origin of the corona virus: criticism of Drosten – discussion on Twitter
A discussion about the allegations against Drosten then flared up on Twitter. For example, Johanna Soll, an author for the Frankfurter Rundschau, among other things, commented: “This is a statement of fact. If this is incorrect, you can take legal action against it. Defamation should […] not simply be accepted.”
“Due to the occasion,” Drosten then shared the appeal published in the specialist magazine Lancet, which he published with many other experts. In this, the experts opposed conspiracy theories and assumptions about the origin of the corona virus. Only science can explain where the virus came from. (slo)
