People carrying out disinfection work at a market in Wuhan, where covid-19 is thought to have originated, in March 2020
An Yuan/China News Service via Getty Images
Five years ago, the covid-19 pandemic was getting under way – but we didn’t know it yet. So, what exactly happened? Many scientists are convinced that it began with infected animals at a market in Wuhan, China, late in 2019, but there is still some debate.
It is clear that SARS-CoV-2 evolved from a bat virus, as many related viruses have been found in bats. One of the closest is a strain called BANAL-20-236…