Japan extended states of emergency in Tokyo and Osaka this week due to high COVID-19 caseloads. The crisis has prompted calls to cancel this summer’s Olympics in Tokyo, and Prime Minister Suga Yoshide’s approval ratings are plummeting due to his shaky pandemic response, as well as major corruption scandals.

The controversial hypothesis that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 might have escaped from a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan remains unproven, but it cannot be ruled out based on the existing evidence. As a result, there are growing calls for a thorough investigation, including from the Biden administration.