One “coincidence” to keep in mind is that Hong Kong had months of pro-democracy protests with China having no viable solution to this “problem” until pandemic s

One “coincidence” to keep in mind is that Hong Kong had months of pro-democracy protests with China having no viable solution to this “problem” until pandemic shut down all street activities. So it could be that pandemic info obstruction by China in the beginning was related to that regardless of how the virus emerged.