Politicians should stay out of COVID-19 origin tracing work: senior S. African editor

Staff work at temporary laboratory for nucleic acid testing at a stadium in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, July 27, 2021.(Xinhua/Li Bo)

Objective scientists have called for open-mindedness in the global origin-tracing work and want the work to be "collaborative, international, unbiased, data-driven and transparent," while some scientists are calling for scientific value, instead of blame or punishment, said Abbey Makoe, a senior South African editor.

JOHANNESBURG, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Discourse around investigation of the origins of COVID-19 is the terrain of qualified scientists, and politics should never be allowed to interrupt scientific research work, said a senior South African editor on Thursday.

Abbey Makoe, former political editor at South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), said a number of famous scientists have called on the World Health Organization to guard against the politicization of the scientific probe into the origin-tracing of the pandemic.

Objective scientists have called for open-mindedness in the global origin-tracing work and want the work to be "collaborative, international, unbiased, data-driven and transparent," while some scientists are calling for scientific value, instead of blame or punishment, Makoe noted.

He voiced his view in his article titled "Keep politicians away and let scientists do their work unhindered in COVID-19 origin tracing research" published by the SABC website.

"Now that the scientists have spoken, politicians need to listen," said Makoe. "There is absolutely everything untoward when less-knowledgeable people throw their weight around society's brightest brains whose primary interest is science-based research and empirical evidence."