The search for origins of the virus behind the Covid-19 pandemic must be guided by scientific evidence rather than speculation in order to succeed, said prominent Malaysian virologist Lam Sai Kit.

Lam, who is credited for the discovery of the Nipah virus in 1999 and is now part of a task force set up by the medical journal The Lancet to study Covid-19’s origins, said insights gleaned from the search will be important for informing efforts to prevent future pandemics.

However...