Writer David Quammen talks about Covid and its spread in our societies. He does this during Che Tempo Che Fa, which aired on November 13th. “I think it will stay here forever,” says Quammen, “but we can control it. The virus got here before it got anywhere else, and it spread before people realized its pitfalls. There have always been some who have always been suspicious of scientific results – it has only gotten worse, but we are in the age of the internet and Twitter…. Fabio Fazio Quammen talks about his new book, Out of Breath. “It’s exactly the story of what happened in the pandemic, but it’s told with the emphasis on the virus because he’s the main character.”
“I don’t believe in the hypothesis that the virus escaped from a Chinese lab. There is no scientific basis. Of course there are coincidences, stories, accusations that have been made that tell stories that don’t exist.”
@David Quammen to #CTCF pic.twitter.com/pc5Zyu7F02– Che tempo che fa (@chetempochefa) November 13, 2022
Then David Quammen talks about the hypothesis of the virus escaping from a laboratory. “I don’t believe in the hypothesis that the virus was manipulated or escaped from a Chinese laboratory – counters Quammen – there is no scientific basis. There are only coincidences, accusations, stories about stories that don’t exist. Instead, there is empirical evidence and that means that this virus is very similar to viruses that live on bats in China and shows us the evolution of the coronavirus. In short, viruses evolved naturally. But we haven’t even found the first animal to carry the virus. It can take over 40 years to find. But it is an absolutely natural virus.”