A Hearing on Covid’s Origins Spurs Call for Rules to Curb Risky Virus Research

Ex Trump official maintains that lab accident caused Covid-19
Global race is on to build high-security research facilities

Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, center, after a House subcommittee on the pandemic in Washington, on March 8. — Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, center, after a House subcommittee on the pandemic in Washington, on March 8.
Photographer: Ting Shen/Bloomberg

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By Riley Griffin and Alexander Ruoff

March 8, 2023 at 7:18 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The Trump administration’s top infectious disease official urged lawmakers during a hearing on the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic to ban research that enhances a pathogen’s ability to spread or cause disease.

Robert Redfield, who served as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the outset of the health crises, has long maintained that Covid was likely caused by a lab accident in Wuhan, China.