These waters are incredibly muddy. - the virus could have been 100% natural, in containment at a lab that was accidentally mishandled and then exposed to a hug

These waters are incredibly muddy. - the virus could have been 100% natural, in containment at a lab that was accidentally mishandled and then exposed to a huge population center. This would be a man-made disaster - the virus could have been man-altered, as in naturally evolved via man-directed evolution and the escape could have happened. - the virus could have been edited, “artificial” in this sense, then escaped - the virus could have been edited and intentionally released - the virus could have been natural and intentionally released - the actor is not monolithic, a rogue employee could have maliciously acted to expose people while the broader entity covered it up to save face There are a lot of variables here, but all we know for sure is that the Chinese government has worked hard to conceal the truth and that ground zero is suspiciously close to a research lab studying these specific virus types. We also know that, unlike most other pandemics at this point, no preexisting natural reservoir of CV19 has been found. Make of that what you will.