Establishing origin of coronavirus irrelevant for struggle to contain it — expert - TASS

The knowledge about origins of the novel coronavirus is irrelevant for the effort to contain it, Vladimir Gushchin, an expert with the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, said on Tuesday.

"Whether the virus leaked from a lab or not is of no importance. <…> This knowledge will not change the strategy of fighting against it. Evidence [to support any of the existing versions] about its origin will most likely be obtained as a result of law enforcement procedures. From the scientific point of view, it is hard to prove this or that version," he told the Soloviev Live YouTube Channel.

Gushchin added that incidents in which scientists contract viruses they are working with in a lab happen "from time to time."

"This happens from time to time, so the rules of handling viruses are being toughened periodically," he said.