S22: Pandemic Origins

Misinformation and China

February 25, 2026

Key questions

PCR testing team
  • Lab leak or wet market? Debates about Covid origins
  • “Infodemic”: How does misinformation about Covid spread?
  • How the pandemic hurts trust in science and public institutions?

Covid-19 As History

  • What do you remember about the pandemic?
  • Did you encounter any misinformation?
  • How do you think your memories of the pandemic have changed (or will change)?
  • What would you like future generations to remember?

Pandemic Meets “Infodemic”

  • Overabundance of information, accurate or not, accompanying an acute public event such as an outbreak or epidemic.
  • People are confused or overwhelmed with information, and sharing news alleviated – and contributed to – collective anxiety.

SARS in 2002

TIME Magazine, April 21, 2003

TIME Magazine Cover: SARS Nation - May 5, 2003

TIME Magazine Cover: The Truth About SARS - May 5, 2003

SARS: Similar History

A man sits in his stall beside caged dogs in a market selling wild animals for dishes in Guangzhou in south China’s Guangdong province, in this May 26, 2003 photo. STR / AP
  • Coronavirus outbreak in Guangdong Province, China, on November 16, 2002
  • At that time: occurrence of infectious disease classified as a state secret; No physician or journalist can alert the public without breaking the law.
  • 8000 people infected globally and 774 deaths.

SARS: Different Outcome

Man wearing mask in Hong Kong
  • Between April and May 2003, more than 1000 officials fired or penalized for their slow response to SARS
  • 6.8 billion RMB for the construction of a three-tiered network of disease control and prevention
  • Increased U.S.-China collaboration on global health: US CDC helped found China’s CDC
  • Tens of thousands of trainees, faculty exchanges, and research collaborations in biomedical and public health.

Covid-19: A History

Li Wenliang in January 2020
  • 2019-12-12: A cluster of patients in Wuhan begin to experience the symptoms of an atypical pneumonia-like illness.
  • 2019-12-30: Li Wenliang discusses 7 cases of SARS-like symptoms on Wechat group.
  • 2019-12-31: The World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office in China notified.

Covid-19: A History

Covid Clinic in Shanghai, 2022
  • 2020-01-02: Zhong Nanshan confirmed that novel coronavirus was spread through human-to-human transmission.
  • 2020-01-03: Li Wenliang admonished by local police in Wuhan and signs letter.
  • 2020-01-07: Public health officials in China identify a novel coronavirus as the causative agent of the outbreak.

Covid-19: A History

Wuhan Huanan Seafood Market
  • 2020-01-20: Zhong Nanshan publicly admitted that the novel coronavirus was being spread by human-to-human transmission.
  • 2020-01-23: Wuhan, a city of 11 million, placed under total lockdown for 76 days
  • 2020-02-07: Death of Li Wenliang

Discuss: How Covid Became a Global Pandemic

  • Why did China’s disease reporting system fail?
  • Was there a genuine opportunity to contain the outbreak in its early stages?
  • Explain: “A disaster is not defined in purely physical terms but “as a significant disruption or collapse of the existing cultural beliefs or norms about hazards, and for dealing with them and their impacts.”

“The China Virus”

“Wuhan Pneumonia”

  • Taiwanese officials, media, and public continue to refer to COVID-19 as “Wuhan pneumonia” or “China Wuhan pneumonia,” despite the World Health Organization’s recommendation against location-based names.
  • The term reflect – and exacerbate – the already strained cross-strait relations.

Lab Leak Theory As Official Explanation

Discuss: Lab Leak Theory

WHO Team in Wuhan
  • What are the hypothetical origins of the Covid-19 pandemic?
  • What is the evidence for and against these theories? Which do you find more convincing?
  • How do we know what we know about the pandemic? How certain are we?
  • How do you evaluate the communication of intelligence to the public? Does it matter that the report remain inclusive, given that uncertainty about coronavirus breeds opportunity for misinformation?

Global Times on Fort Detrick

Global Times: Suspect No. 1: Why Fort Detrick lab should be investigated for global COVID-19 origins tracing

Jeffrey Sachs: Lab Leak from US?

Fauci on Covid Lab Leak Theory

The Lockdown

Wuhan Lockdown
Jan 23, 2020 – Apr 8, 2020

  • A city of 12 million people in Central China
  • Beginning of China’s “zero Covid” strategy: Mass testing, strict isolation rules, and local lockdowns.
  • China became an initial Covid success story with restrictions lifted earlier than many other countries.

Shanghai Lockdown
March 28, 2022 – June 1, 2022

  • Largest city in China, with 25 million people.
  • Infection driven by Omicron variant, more contagious but less lethal.
  • Initial triage system: “closed area”, “control area”, and “prevention area”.
  • April 5 “static management”, “silent period” extended to entire city, banning all entry and exit, excluding delivery shipment.

Voices from Shanghai: April 2022

Fire in Urumqi

Urumqi Road in Shanghai
  • 2022-11-24: Fire in Urumqi, 10 deaths 9 injuries
  • Latest sign of growing frustration with China’s strict pandemic measures.

…. to Protest in Middle Urumqi Road

White Paper Protest
  • 2022-11-27: Protests erupted in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou.
  • “No PCR tests, we want freedom!”

A Misinformation Pandemic

  • What lessons can we draw from the pandemic?
  • What should we do when people feel confused or overwhelmed with information?
  • “Flattening the curve”: If we can protect against COVID-19 with hand washing, physical distancing and masks, what “information hygiene” can we practice to slow down the spread of misinformation?

RFK Jr on Covid