COVID-19 Outbreak (Update: More than 2.9M cases and 132,313 deaths in US)

DaveXA said
Personally, I'd say the proximity of the lab to wet markets is irrelevant. What matters is that the lab is quite close to where the alleged origins occurred. In a country as large as China, that's relatively close, and while it may be coincidental, it's certainly valid to raise questions about that proximity. It's not like these labs are all over China.

I don't know either way, but I know enough not to trust China on anything Covid related. Their numbers are a universal joke. About as believable as North Korea not having a single case.

So I'm not trusting anything China has to say about their origins. They prevented and still are stalling when it comes to allowing international inspectors to investigate this. Until that happens, conspiracy theories are fair game.

I bet that wherever in China that there are large cities, there are also universities and research centers of many different types, and that therefore they ALL are in SOME sort of proximity to wet markets. So, I contend for someone to raise the point that THIS particular lab is approx X miles from a wet market (where some believe was ground zero) is just stoking the coals of conspiracy theories.

I totally agree with you about not believing China (i.e. Chinese government) with the numbers they release, and that they are not being forthcoming. However, when credible scientists around the globe are mostly in agreement in debunking a particular conspiracy theory, we should acknowledge this.

https://www.businessinsider.com/why-coronavirus-did-not-leak-from-wuhan-lab-researcher-2020-4from that article:
Since 2014, Shi's group at the WIV has received nearly $600,000 from a multi-million dollar, five-year grant funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to research the spillover of bat coronaviruses. The grant, which is managed by EcoHealth Alliance, was renewed for another five years in 2019.

However, after being questioned about that funding at a White House briefing on April 17, President Trump said his administration would "end that grant very quickly."

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face...