5 ms·

Those millions of peasants living near bat caves would have traveled to thousands of markets all over China, but the virus originated at the one market in China

Those millions of peasants living near bat caves would have traveled to thousands of markets all over China, but the virus originated at the one market in China that is basically across the street from a virus lab? It's not impossible, but my money is on the lab.

MilnerRoute 6y ago
The lab was not "across the street." It was a full seven miles away. https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/04/01/covid-19-bioweapon/ https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/04/01/covid-19-bioweapon/
- manicdee 6y ago
  The lab seven miles away is basically across the street. The whole phrase was “basically across the street” indicating relatively proximate in comparison. Why did you have selectively quote the statement so that you could refute a claim that wasn’t made? What are you hiding?
  - howlgarnish 6y ago
    How does a virus spread primarily by aerosols/droplets travel 7 miles across a city of 10 million people? Also, the first known confirmed case has no known connections to the Huanan market or the virology institute. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200221-coronavirus-the-harmful-hunt-for-covid-19s-patient-zero https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200221-coronavirus-the-... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_COVID-19_pandemic_in_2019 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_COVID-19_pande...
    - heidar 6y ago
      The first sentence in the BBC article. > Chinese authorities and experts are at odds about the origin of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. I'm not saying this argument is invalid in general but it's important to assume that we know next to nothing about this whole situation and that the things that we know are potentially false pieces of information pushed by the CCP. They've tried to sweep this under the rug and control the discussion from day one and this happens to be something they're incredibly good at.
      - howlgarnish 6y ago
        The BBC article is a summarizing a linked study reputable enough to be published in the Lancet. Also, the CCP is quite good at using brute force to impose its will within China, but they've been signally unsuccessful in crafting propaganda for Western consumption.
        heidar 6y ago
        They've been incredibly successful at soft propaganda in the West to craft an image of China that makes it look better than it is, while also being successful at hiding the things they don't want us to see.
    - ladon86 6y ago
      > How does a virus spread primarily by aerosols/droplets travel 7 miles across a city of 10 million people? Presumably the same way it travels 25,000 miles across a planet of 7.5bn people - via the people.
  - wokwokwok 6y ago
    No, sometimes you have to just admit you’re wrong. There’s plenty of this which is entirely plausible without any “across the road” bullshit; that’s purely headline grabbing nonsense.
- collyw 6y ago
  A whole 7 miles away? Wow It's almost as far as i go to my office every day. Or to some shops in the town centre. Or various other "everyday activities".
RyEgswuCsn 6y ago
If Wikipedia is to be trusted [1]: "AIDS was first clinically reported on June 5, 1981, with five cases in the United States" "Both HIV-1 and HIV-2 are believed to have originated in non-human primates in West-central Africa and were transferred to humans in the early 20th century." If HIV, a relatively less infectious virus, can make its way across the Atlantic Ocean to land on America shores, I wouldn't be surprised SARS-CoV-2 could do the same. Another explanation could be that SARS-CoV-2 is a lot more common than we think --- many people might have caught it before but it didn't manage to spread, but this time the virus just hit the jackpot. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS#History

MilnerRoute 6y ago

The lab was not "across the street." It was a full seven miles away. https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/04/01/covid-19-bioweapon/ https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/04/01/covid-19-bioweapon/

manicdee 6y ago
The lab seven miles away is basically across the street. The whole phrase was “basically across the street” indicating relatively proximate in comparison. Why did you have selectively quote the statement so that you could refute a claim that wasn’t made? What are you hiding?
- howlgarnish 6y ago
  How does a virus spread primarily by aerosols/droplets travel 7 miles across a city of 10 million people? Also, the first known confirmed case has no known connections to the Huanan market or the virology institute. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200221-coronavirus-the-harmful-hunt-for-covid-19s-patient-zero https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200221-coronavirus-the-... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_COVID-19_pandemic_in_2019 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_COVID-19_pande...
  - heidar 6y ago
    The first sentence in the BBC article. > Chinese authorities and experts are at odds about the origin of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. I'm not saying this argument is invalid in general but it's important to assume that we know next to nothing about this whole situation and that the things that we know are potentially false pieces of information pushed by the CCP. They've tried to sweep this under the rug and control the discussion from day one and this happens to be something they're incredibly good at.
    - howlgarnish 6y ago
      The BBC article is a summarizing a linked study reputable enough to be published in the Lancet. Also, the CCP is quite good at using brute force to impose its will within China, but they've been signally unsuccessful in crafting propaganda for Western consumption.
      - heidar 6y ago
        They've been incredibly successful at soft propaganda in the West to craft an image of China that makes it look better than it is, while also being successful at hiding the things they don't want us to see.
  - ladon86 6y ago
    > How does a virus spread primarily by aerosols/droplets travel 7 miles across a city of 10 million people? Presumably the same way it travels 25,000 miles across a planet of 7.5bn people - via the people.
- wokwokwok 6y ago
  No, sometimes you have to just admit you’re wrong. There’s plenty of this which is entirely plausible without any “across the road” bullshit; that’s purely headline grabbing nonsense.
collyw 6y ago
A whole 7 miles away? Wow It's almost as far as i go to my office every day. Or to some shops in the town centre. Or various other "everyday activities".

RyEgswuCsn 6y ago

If Wikipedia is to be trusted [1]: "AIDS was first clinically reported on June 5, 1981, with five cases in the United States" "Both HIV-1 and HIV-2 are believed to have originated in non-human primates in West-central Africa and were transferred to humans in the early 20th century." If HIV, a relatively less infectious virus, can make its way across the Atlantic Ocean to land on America shores, I wouldn't be surprised SARS-CoV-2 could do the same. Another explanation could be that SARS-CoV-2 is a lot more common than we think --- many people might have caught it before but it didn't manage to spread, but this time the virus just hit the jackpot. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS#History