Cope for what? I have nothing to say about science policy because that’s not something I have a background in, but I doubt policy people would want to be cavalier with an unknown virus. Things like the viral origin, effectiveness of the vaccine and severity of covid and if/how it would mutate were unknown. And fyi no scientists I know thought the lab leak was outlandish. Most were like 5050 but you don’t go around accusing people before you know more. You don’t know until you know.