# SARS-CoV-2 Ian Lipkin was a prominent expert in the early stages of the Covid pandemic.[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-1)[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-2)[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-3)[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-4) On January 29, 2020, to investigate the outbreak, he flew to China where he “assembled a formal written report” for the Chinese central government and helped develop a diagnostic test with scientists from China’s Central Disease Control.[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-5) He led the condemnation of "conspiracy theorists" that suggested a lab accident should be investigated.[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-6) He was a proponent of lockdowns as the best tool to control the spread of the disease,[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-7)[\[8\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-8) saying "we should take a page from what the Chinese did".[\[9\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-9) Lipkin was also an advocate of plasma therapy as a treatment,[\[10\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-10) and more funding for GIDeoN, a public health organization he heads that aims to centralize world health data to aid “early detection and containment” of future pandemics.[\[11\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-11)[\[12\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-12)[\[13\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-13)Lipkin contracted Covid-19 in mid-March whilst doing media but was not hospitalized and recovered.[\[14\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-14) #### Fact-finding mission to China Ian Lipkin was one of the first western scientists to learn of the emergence of SARS-nCoV-2 Wuhan, saying "I first heard about this outbreak on the 15th Dec from Lu Jia-hai, a professor at Sun Yat-sen university, who runs a large one-health program (that's) been funded for about 6 months by the Chinese government. On January 29, 2020, Lipkin flew into [Guangzhou](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangzhou "Guangzhou") China to “see for myself what the issues were” regarding the spread of SARS-nCoV-2.[\[15\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-microbe.tv-15) Due to Lipkin’s long standing relationship with Chinese government officials and scientists[\[16\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-publichealth.columbia.edu-16) he said: “I would get more accurate information than the agencies (NIH and CDC) had about the number of cases, and what was known and not known, and who was doing what.”[\[17\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-17) In Guangzhou he met with Chinese pulmonologist [Zhong Nanshan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhong_Nanshan "Zhong Nanshan"), who updated him on the progress of the epidemic.[\[18\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-18) Lipkin then traveled to Beijing, where he met with Foreign Minister for Health [Chen Zhu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Zhu "Chen Zhu") ( 陈竺), the Minister of Science and Technology, and the Premier, [Li Keqiang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Keqiang "Li Keqiang"),[\[19\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-19) who, according to the The China Straits Times, presented Lipkin with an award for his services to the PRC.[\[20\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-20) At these meetings Lipkin gained an understanding of the seriousness of the virus, whilst also providing input on measures to contain it.[\[21\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-21) In an interview with NPR, Lipkin said: “I work very closely with the people who are running these isolation areas within China. This is very, very difficult. It's stressful. I also don't like the idea of screening people with CT scans because there's a lot of radiation, which is potentially problematic as well.”[\[22\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-22) According to Columbia's website, Lipkin was an architect of China's bio-security system, who "helped develop the institutional infrastructure to ensure China would have the resources to detect and more rapidly respond to emerging infectious threats.”[\[16\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-publichealth.columbia.edu-16) Lipkin also claimed to be involved in formulating Australia's response to the virus.[\[23\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Before_the_Bang/sandbox#cite_note-23)