CONSPIRACY theories, Prince Charles’ compassion and the necessity to save zoos from falling victim to Covid-19 were the issues raised by columnists and contributors in the newspapers.

The Guardian

Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to analysing and preventing pandemics, said that suggestions Covid-19 was a manmade virus were ‘the latest chapter in a tale of blame, misinformation and finger-pointing.’

“Determining the origins and emergence of a pandemic is as messy and complex as studying a plane crash,” he said. “This is exactly what our organisation, EcoHealth Alliance, does. We work around the world to identify the origins of pandemics, map them and analyse them, and use these results to predict where the next pandemic will likely emerge. “

He said they had spent the last 15 years in China analysing the group of viruses from which Sars and now Covid-19 have emerged.

“Our work puts us in a unique position to identify, with a remarkable degree of confidence, the likely origin of Covid-19,” he said. “Our report firmly concludes that Covid-19 originated in bats, in a hotspot of viral evolution along the border of Yunnan province in China, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.”

He said existing patterns of infection suggested the spread of Covid-19 was a question of when and not if.

“Unfortunately, this sort of logic will not deter conspiracy theorists,” he added. “The dark power of the internet means that anyone, anywhere, can find evidence to echo even the most outlandish of claims. We estimate that there are 1.7m undiscovered viruses in wildlife in emerging disease hotspots such as rural southeast Asia. Rather than chasing conspiracies, we should be focusing our efforts on these regions and the communities on their frontlines. “

The Daily Express

Vanessa Feltz described Prince Charles as ‘one of lockdown’s stand-out stars.’

“His comments about longing to hug his grandchildren struck a chord with cuddle-starved folk the world over,” she said. “We see him as the nation’s granddad. He is kind. He is decent and somehow – despite being in the elegant isolation of the late Queen Elizabeth’s favourite bolthole Birkhall – manages to have his finger firmly on the pulse.”

She applauded his comments about teachers ‘being at the heart of the nation’s recovery.’

“Before coronavirus, to our shame, we were a tad ambivalent about them,” she said. “On our children’s behalves we resented them for not recognising our offsprings’ genius or relegating them to third shepherd from the left in the Nativity play.

“Frankly, we didn’t spend that much time thinking about them. Now, as Prince Charles fittingly points out, we are infatuated and even berserk fans.

“We have tried to take on an infinitesimal fraction of their daily burden and found it intolerable.”

Home schooling has been hell, she said.

“We finally get it,” she added. “Teachers are living saints – not to mention actors, therapists, anger management specialists, restaurateurs and confessors.

“We couldn’t do what they do. And the heir to the throne couldn’t have expressed it better.”

The Sun

With zoos losing millions of pounds due to lockdown and their very future under threat, the Prime Minister’s father Stanley Johnson wrote about why we must fight to save them.

“Over my years campaigning on environmental issues I have had the joy of witnessing tigers, pandas, mountain gorillas and blue-footed boobies in the wild,” he said. “But not everyone can travel far and wide to enjoy these magnificent sights. For those young, inquisitive minds thirsting for the chance to experience the diversity of nature close up, the zoo still has much to offer.”

The money visitors pay to enter a zoo doesn’t just on its upkeep and care for the animals, he said. It funds conservation projects in countries that desperately need support.

“Many zoos are involved in captive breeding programmes, where they make sure healthy young animals are being born within their confines,” he added. “It is important that rather than taking animals from the wild, these institutions are in fact breeding ­animals that can be introduced into the wild.

“A good zoo not only looks after the welfare of animals, it also makes a vital contribution to ­conservation.”