About three in ten believe coronavirus was made in a lab, says survey
The Hindu Dated: June 10, 2020 By: Jacob Koshy About three in 10 believed that coronavirus (COVID-19 ) was manufactured in a laboratory but most, or 42%, believed it evolved naturally, say the early results of a sociological survey to gauge public perception of the COVID-19 pandemic in India. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he believed that the virus emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has stated that SARS-CoV-2 was “man-made and not natural.” However, the expert scientific consensus based on analysing the gene sequences of the virus is that it has evolved naturally. About 54% said the lockdown “helped overcome” the pandemic and 30% said the lockdown “created problems” including — a fifth of them saying — that they’d lost jobs and earnings and 3% saying that they faced “hunger and starvation.” At 2,80,000 cases on Wednesday, India continues to be on a rising-case trajectory even ...