The article discusses how Trump appointees, including notable figures like Elon Musk, are bringing conspiracy theories about Covid-19 to leadership positions in U.S. health agencies. These individuals claim that the virus resulted from a lab leak and was possibly engineered with U.S. funding, despite strong evidence to the contrary. Their views, which have gained traction among some Republicans in Congress, raise concerns for federal workers about pending changes in policies towards infectious diseases research and funding limitations, hinting at significant shifts in health agency operations.
In a flurry of tweets last week, Elon Musk declared that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was a viper's nest of radical-left marxists who hate America and was pure evil.
Several of Trump's other senior appointees have also touted this theory that Covid-19 is not just the result of a lab leak, but is a genetically engineered virus-and perhaps even a bioweapon, created in part thanks to US funding.
These beliefs, consistently refuted, have become a North Star for the new administration, leading to fears among federal workers regarding the future direction of health agencies.
The new administration has explicitly said that it intends to curtail research on infectious diseases, ban a wide swath of virological work, and perhaps halt funding altogether.
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