Originally Posted by
SOPS
I don’t normally prescribe to conspiracy stuff.. but I’m starting to wonder if this thing popped out of a lab somewhere.
Doubt that would make a difference. After the SARS experience, China along with every major country has had corona viruses in their bio labs for study, so an escape from sloppy handling in their Wuhan lab is not implausible.
However, given the slow incubation period and the relatively modest 2+% fatality rate, this is in no wise a weaponized virus, rather it may have been a research study item.
Fwiw, the best estimates are that it started with a single infection, whether from an animal or from an accidental release, sometime in late November 2019. Since then, it has been transmitted from person to person.
See:
https://nextstrain.org/ncov
The inept response of the political leaders in the affected area allowed the virus to spread.