The hunt for the origins of SARS-CoV-2 will look beyond China

ONE OF THESARSCVSARSSARSCVThe Economist Today great questions of the past six months is where -o-2, the virus that causes covid-19, came from. It is thought the answer involves bats, because they harbour a variety of -like viruses. Yunnan, one of China’s southernmost provinces, has drawn the attention of virus hunters, as the closest-known relatives of -o-2 are found there. But some think the origins of the virus are not to be found in China at all, but rather just across the border in Myanmar, Laos or Vietnam.