There’s a fairly lengthy account of this incident in the (very enjoyable) book <i>The Dead Hand: The Untold History of the Cold War Arms Race and its Deadly Legacy</i>.<p>It’s long but a great read if you’re interested in this part of history.<p><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Hand" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Hand</a>
The New York Times was complicit in the cover up. Its COVID reporter was caught recently still pushing the narrative that lab leak theory was "racist". [1]<p>YouTube mass deleted videos about it. Facebook censored discussion.<p>Now the entire orthodoxy is facing reckoning for their sloppy and censorious actions.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/new-york-times-covid-lab-leak-apoorva-mandavilli/" rel="nofollow">https://www.thewrap.com/new-york-times-covid-lab-leak-apoorv...</a>
Aug. 5, 2019: "Deadly Germ Research Is Shut Down at Army Lab Over Safety Concerns" - NYTimes [1]<p>[1]<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/health/germs-fort-detrick-biohazard.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/health/germs-fort-detrick...</a>
This reminds me of the excellent play “An enemy of the people” by Henrik Ibsen.<p>COVID’s origin and coverup has done tremendous damage to the faith that people had in the media, and their government. Perhaps it is the media that has become the enemy of the people.