The Politicization of COVID-19 Origin Stories: Insights from a Cross-Sectional Survey in China

Abstract

The search for the origins of COVID-19 has yielded no conclusive evidence. In the face of this uncertainty, other social and political factors can influence perceptions of virus origins, which in turn can influence policy formation and global efforts to combat future pandemics. Vastly different COVID-19 origin stories may circulate both within the same country but also between different countries. This article examines COVID-19 origins debates as they circulate in China, drawing from a 974-respondent survey conducted in mainland China. Our results show that within China there is a strong belief that COVID-19 originated outside the country, either in the United States or Europe. This contrasts with mainstream media coverage in the United State and Europe, which generally holds that the virus most likely originated in China. Given such global dissonance, moving forward with pandemic prevention reforms is challenging. Yet, even in the face of such diverse beliefs, building support for reform is still possible. As the search for COVID-19 continues, policy reform can be pursued across a plurality of domains, including wet markets, the wildlife trade, cold-chain products, and gain-of-function virology research, all in the interest of preventing the next global pandemic.

Support for wildlife consumption bans and policies in China post-Covid-19

“…Here we present data from the last section of the survey; the other sections are discussed elsewhere (Rizzolo et al, unpubl. data; Zhu et al, 2023a,b).…”

“…Furthermore, perceptions of zoonotic risk and the impacts of these attitudes on wildlife consumption behaviours vary across taxa, with the impacts of zoonotic pandemics yielding more significant reductions in the consumption of some taxa than of others (Duonamou et al, 2020). The ongoing debate over the origins of Covid-19 has complicated policy responses further despite documentation of a zoonotic link (Worobey, 2021; Zhu et al, 2023).…”

“…Yet there is evidence (albeit in a UK sample) that a narrative of Covid-19 that emphasizes its origins in human–animal interaction elicits support for bans on the commercial trade of wildlife (Shreedhar & Mourato, 2020). This suggests that support for policies to protect wildlife and human health can still be harnessed even if research on the origins of Covid-19 is politicized or still in progress (Zhu et al, 2023). However, the current literature on China post-Covid-19 focuses on wildlife consumption patterns (Lin, 2021; Zhang et al, 2022) rather than support for particular regulations such as bans.…”

Sexual harassment in the workplace: Rituals as Prevention and Management Strategies in COVID-19 Crisis

“…On the one hand, it is noteworthy that workplace sexual harassment can have a far-reaching deleterious impact through media channels, and as such, the efficacy of the corresponding ritual is contingent upon its implementation within a context characterized by extensive public involvement and interaction [ 9 ]. The COVID-19 crisis, being a major nationwide emergency, necessitated the participation of local communities in their respective healthcare establishments' prevention efforts, irrespective of their pre-existing negative perceptions [ 22 ]. The efficacy of rituals can only be maximized when a broad spectrum of stakeholders is involved.…”

Perceptions of COVID-19 origins and China’s wildlife policy reforms

“…As circulated in the US and Europe, the lab leak hypothesis posits that COVID-19 was accidentally leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, not far from the Huanan Seafood Market initially thought to be the site of first human transmission ( Maxmen and Mallapaty, 2021 ; Z hou et al, 2020 ). Leading up to the summer of 2022, the lab leak hypothesis gained substantial ground in media attention, fomented in part by the Biden Administration’s order for a 90-day intelligence inquiry into the virus origins ( Zhu et al, 2023 ). Later in the year, however, new studies pointed back to the Huanan market and the wildlife trade more broadly as the likely source of the pandemic ( Gao et al, 2022 , Lytras et al, 2021 , Pekar et al, 2022 , Worobey et al, 2022 ).…”