DISINFO: Coronavirus was created in a laboratory
SUMMARY
Coronavirus is created in a laboratory. “COVID-19 has been “collected” from the bat coronavirus, snake coronavirus and the glycoprotein component of HIV. Such a combination cannot occur in nature. The United States should allow international observers to enter its laboratories. Оtherwise, they would be the first to be suspected of developing the coronavirus. There are well known laboratory-borne infections like avian flu, coronavirus, Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome.
RESPONSE
Recurring conspiracy theories that echo pro-Kremlin disinformation about coronavirus. The narratives also resemble a recurring conspiracy theory about the Lugar Lab in Georgia. There is no evidence that SARS, MERS, or avian influenzas were created in laboratories. The current coronavirus (2019-nCoV) comes from a family of viruses that include other viruses such as SARS and MERS. The identity of the animal source of the coronavirus, named nCoV-2019, has been one of the key questions for researchers. Coronaviruses are known to circulate in mammals and birds, and scientists have already suggested that nCoV-2019 originally came from bats. One of the previous coronaviruses that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, spread from bats to civet cats to humans. A group of 27 prominent public health scientists have condemned rumours and conspiracy theories about the origin of coronavirus outbreak. "We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin.The authors of The Lancet statement note that scientists from several countries who have studied SARS-CoV-2 “overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife, just like many other viruses that have recently emerged in humans. Conspiracy theories do nothing but create fear, rumours and prejudice that jeopardise our global collaboration in the fight against this virus, the statement says.