4 ms·
Perhaps you could enumerate the facts relating to the lab leak theory? All I have is: 1) A virus research lab was located in an area where novel viruses have t
by somewhereoutth 2y ago
Perhaps you could enumerate the facts relating to the lab leak theory? All I have is:
1) A virus research lab was located in an area where novel viruses have tended to emerge.
There are several issues with the lab leak theory:
1) Creates a target for (racial?) hatred and blame - i.e the Chinese.
2) Absolves us from blame, 'a few bad people' (like in the movies), instead of general human encroachment on the natural environment.
3) Feeds the anti-science narrative.
- red_admiral 2y agoThere is a claim that a couple of researchers at the WiV got unwell with Covid a few days before anyone else. That would be an argument in favour of a lab leak. But I don't think it's established beyond doubt that this claim is true, and it's not a knockdown argument on its own. The NSA might have access to Chinese top secret government records saying "oh shit, one of our experiments got out into the wild, cover it up!". Without seeing a smoking gun like this though, I remain on the pro-zoonotic side.
- n4r9 2y agoI think it's fairly safe to let go of this claim. The WHO did an extensive report in Feb 2021 into 92 cases of potential early COVID. This included staff at WIV and used COVID tests on preserved samples. They found that none of the cases were actually COVID.
- gabaix 2y agoAre you referring to the "Joint WHO-China Study"? https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/who-convened-global-study-of-origins-of-sars-cov-2-china-part https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/who-convened-global-...
- red_admiral 2y agoI agree with you (and so does the ACX post I cited elsewhere). I'm just saying it is a claim made by the pro-leak crowd that, if true, would be more credible than "A virus research lab was located in an area where novel viruses have tended to emerge".