Covid may have been man-made, Michael Gove tells inquiry

• The former minister was reprimanded by the inquiry’s counsel for the remark
• READ MORE: Michael Gove warned ‘we’re f***ing up as a government’ 

A ‘significant body of judgement’ suggests Covid was a man-made virus, Michael Gove claimed today.  

The senior Tory, who was Cabinet Office minister and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when the crisis began in 2020, was quizzed about shortcomings in the UK’s pandemic planning as part of the Covid inquiry.

Mr Gove, now Housing Secretary, claimed the Government was prepared for a flu pandemic but Covid was a ‘novel virus’ which had a ‘different set of challenges’.

Asked about shortcomings in preparedness for a new virus, he said: ‘There is a significant body of judgment that believes that the virus itself was man-made, and that presents challenges as well.’

His remarks were swiftly slapped down by No10, which said it was for the World Health Organization (WHO) to determine Covid’s origin. 

Experts also slammed the comments arguing there is ‘strong evidence’ the virus ‘was not artificially engineered’. 

The senior Tory , who was Cabinet Office minister and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when the pandemic began in 2020, said the nature of the ‘novel virus’ made it challenging for the Government to prepare for the pandemic. It ‘presented a different set of challenges from those that pandemic flu had’, he told the Covid inquiry

Some experts now say Covid may have emerged from within the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Here security personnel are pictured keeping watch during a visit by the WHO in 2021

Mr Gove later attacked ‘dysfunction’ at the Cabinet Office and admitted the Government had been too late in locking down the UK.

Asked about government shortcomings in preparing for a new virus, Mr Gove told the inquiry: ‘We were in the middle of an evolving crisis. 

‘As I mentioned earlier and as is well known, while the plan for pandemic flu that had been developed, had many strengths and virtues, it was in the nature of the virus that we faced, that it presented a different set of challenges from those that pandemic flu had.’

He added: ‘We were not as well prepared as we should have been ideally. It’s in the nature of the fact that the virus was novel. 

‘And indeed, I think this probably goes beyond the realms of the inquiry but there is a significant body of judgment that believes that the virus itself was man-made and that presents challenges as well.’

Read more: UK ‘could have avoided harsh lockdowns’: Short circuit-breakers ‘work better’ than prolonged restrictions, top scientist claims

But he was reprimanded by the inquiry’s lead counsel Hugo Keith KC, who said it was not the place to discuss the ‘divisive’ matter. 

He said: ‘It forms no part of the terms of reference of this inquiry Mr Gove, to address that somewhat divisive issue, so we are not going to go there.’ 

Mr Gove added: ‘But I think it is important to recognise that the virus presented a series of new challenges that required both the science to adjust.

‘And science, by definition, adjusts on the basis of accumulating evidence — both about the operation of the virus and its effect on particular elements within the population.’

Top virologists back the natural origins theory — that the virus originated in bats and infected an intermediary species — possibly a pangolin — before infecting humans.

However, others believe the virus was leaked — accidentally or on purpose — from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which was conducting experiments on live bats. 

Responding to Mr Gove’s accusation, Downing Street today said the Government’s position was for the UN health agency to probe the origins of the Covid pandemic.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘The Government’s view is that the WHO needs to continue to examine all possibilities.

‘We think there is still work to be done. But it is for the WHO to investigate.’

It was the ‘long-standing position of the Government’ that it was for the WHO to ‘consider all possible avenues and to come to a conclusion’, they said.

The spokesman added: ‘I don’t think it is quiet that people have differing views about the origins of Covid.’

Scientists have largely pointed to Wuhan’s Huanan seafood wholesale market, where numerous species of live animals were kept and sold, as the potential site where the virus spread naturally from animals to people. 

Many of the earliest cases in December 2019 and January 2020 had visited the site, where live animals were sold. 

Shi Zhengli – dubbed the ‘Bat Lady’ or ‘Bat Woman’ for her work on bat coronaviruses – investigated the possibility Covid could have emerged from her lab back in 2020 according to colleagues, she is also the editor Virologica Sinica

Addressing the probe, Mr Gove also admitted he took some responsibility for the ‘mistakes’ made at the top level of politics when the crisis unfolded. He said: ‘If I may… apologise to the victims who endured such pain, the families who endured so much loss as a result of the mistakes that were made by Government in response to the pandemic.’ Pictured, arriving at the Covid inquiry in Paddington, London this morning

But Beijing has also repeatedly been accused of a cover-up, stifling attempts to investigate a lab in Wuhan which was experimenting with similar viruses months before the disease emerged in the city. 

Regardless, some experts have warned experiments on high-risk pathogens, which are often conducted in labs located in high-population areas, could spark new pandemics. 

No concrete proof to support either Covid origin argument has been found, leaving experts fearing the truth behind the viruses origins will never be uncovered. 

Beyond just establishing a historical fact, experts also want to find how Covid emerged to help stop other similar pathogens becoming pandemics in the future. 

Professor James Wood, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Cambridge, today said: ‘There is strong evidence from virus genomics that the Covid virus was not artificially engineered, or made by humans, but likely arose from another virus infecting wildlife. 

‘Epidemiological evidence points to the first area where the virus transmitted widely was around, but not restricted to the Hunan Seafood market.’

He added: ‘Genomics cannot however distinguish whether the virus transmitted to humans via traded wildlife in the Hunan Seafood market or through a laboratory accident, where a laboratory worker was inadvertently infected from a sample they were processing, subsequently infecting other people. 

‘A lab leak is not the same as the leak of a “manmade” virus, but is frequently confused.

‘What is important is that lessons are learned and that live wildlife trade, a well recognised route for zoonotic virus transmission, is reduced or banned and that laboratory safety is properly regulated.’

In further revelations today, Mr Gove also attacked ‘dysfunction’ at the Cabinet Office. The inquiry was shown WhatsApp exchanges (pictured) between Mr Gove and Boris Johnson’s chief of staff Dominic Cummings warning ‘we are f**king up as a Government and missing golden opportunities’ to get a grip on Covid infections

In further revelations today, Mr Gove also attacked ‘dysfunction’ at the Cabinet Office and admitted the Government had been too late in locking down the UK.

The inquiry was shown WhatsApp exchanges between Mr Gove and Boris Johnson’s chief of staff Dominic Cummings warning ‘we are ‘f**king up as a Government’ and failing to get a grip on the spread of Covid.

Quoting Mr Gove from evidence dated March 4, 2020, Mr Keith said: ‘You know me, I don’t often kick off but we’re f***ing up as a government and missing golden opportunities.

‘I will carry on doing what I can but the whole situation is even worse than you think and action needs to be taken or we will regret it for a long time.’

When asked to expand on his comments, Mr Gove said at the time he was concerned about the ‘ability and structure’ of the Cabinet Office to deliver Government’s priorities.

It was ‘flawed’ and not effective at dealing with crises, he added. 

Addressing the probe, he also admitted he took some responsibility for the ‘mistakes’ made at the top level of politics when the crisis unfolded.

Mr Gove said: ‘If I may… apologise to the victims who endured such pain, the families who endured so much loss as a result of the mistakes that were made by Government in response to the pandemic.

‘As a minister responsible for the Cabinet Office, and was also close to many of the decisions that were made, I must take my share of responsibility for that.’ 

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