Muddy Waters

The Origins of COVID-19

Based on the information provided, there is evidence to suggest that the COVID-19 outbreak may have emerged earlier than December 8, 2019, the official date provided by China. Eyewitness accounts, media reports, and epidemiological modeling indicate that an increase in adult Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI) accompanied by negative results occurred in October to November 2019, and the disease worsened in November. In addition, several researchers inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) became sick in autumn 2019, and one researcher had loss of smell and ground-glass opacities in his lungs.

While it is still uncertain whether the virus emerged through zoonotic spillover or a research-related incident, it is noteworthy that none of the animal samples collected from the wet markets in Wuhan were positive for SARS-CoV-2, despite 73 SARS-CoV-2 positive environmental samples. There is also evidence to suggest that the WIV was conducting experiments on palm civets and that they may have been …