3. Uncertainty and Trump

Fever: The Hunt for Covid's Origin

US President Donald Trump wades into the Covid origins debate.

It’s April 2020 and at the podium of the White House’s press room, Donald Trump makes a geopolitically incendiary claim: he has a high degree of confidence that the origin of the virus that causes Covid is the Wuhan Institute of Virology - a Chinese government lab. But scientists seem certain that can’t be true. So what is the evidence for both claims? And what were the scientists publicly dismissing a lab leak saying in private?

Archive: The White House; C-SPAN; CBS.

Presenter: John Sudworth Series producer: Simon Maybin Editor: Richard Vadon Sound design and mix: James Beard Commissioning editor: Dan Clarke Science advice: Julian Siddle and Victoria Gill Extra production: Eva Artesona and Kathy Long Research support: Zisheng Xu and BBC Monitoring Production coordinators: Siobhan Reed, Helena Warwick-Cross, Sophie Hill, and Debbie Richford Theme and original music: Pete Cunningham, with trumpet by Joss Murray Radio 4 Editor of Editorial Standards: Roger Mahony Head of BBC News - Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon