I do not have a strong opinion on lab origin vs zoonotic, but I think the idea that the virus didn't originate in Wuhan, or at least very near to Wuhan, is unli

I do not have a strong opinion on lab origin vs zoonotic, but I think the idea that the virus didn't originate in Wuhan, or at least very near to Wuhan, is unlikely. China successfully contained COVID — enough to prevent their own population from getting much of it, at least — by implementing draconian lockdown measures for the Hubei province (of which Wuhan is the capital). I know people who had family trapped in Hubei: the highways were shut down and blockaded by government forces. Guards patrolled people entering and leaving their houses and apartments. In some cases, apartment buildings had their doors welded shut to prevent residents from leaving at all. That didn't happen in Beijing, or Shanghai, or Guangzhou or anywhere else in China, because it didn't need to. The outbreak started somewhere in Hubei. The most likely place of anywhere in Hubei for it to have started is Wuhan, just statistically; it's the largest city, with the most people living in it (not to mention it had the first recorded outbreak). But if it wasn't Wuhan, it was somewhere nearby.