# Coronavirus CT...where it came from **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 1, 2020, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-ct-where-it-came-from/850822 "2020-04-01T19:00:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-ct-where-it-came-from/850822/41 "2020-04-17T16:59:02Z")
Just so I’m clear, the extent of this “conspiracy” is that the virus started in a virology lab studying a bat virus instead of a wet market that had the bat virus? What difference does that make? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-ct-where-it-came-from/850822/42 "2020-04-17T17:18:21Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Just so I’m clear, the extent of this “conspiracy” is that the virus started in a virology lab studying a bat virus instead of a wet market that had the bat virus? What difference does that make? It means that the people who we are in a trade war with, on the subject of profligate fraud and IP theft, might have lied about ~10 things on Covid-19 rather than just ~9. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-ct-where-it-came-from/850822/43 "2020-04-17T18:16:25Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > It means that the people who we are in a trade war with, on the subject of profligate fraud and IP theft, might have lied about ~10 things on Covid-19 rather than just ~9. Holy shit! You’ve opened my eyes! Now I see why it’s all over the news and the subject of a “government investigation”. I think it’s critically important to figure out whether someone got infect in a wet market or in a lab, because \. We must get to the bottom of this if we’re to prevent, uh, future things from happening! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-ct-where-it-came-from/850822/44 "2020-04-17T18:23:37Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > No, flimflamery is what you just did: > \* > "The “documents” are supposedly damning ones referred to in the Fox News story, and could be from U.S. or other sources as far as we know. "\* > > [I cited a CNN story,](https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/12/asia/china-coronavirus-research-restrictions-intl-hnk/index.html) not Fox News, the story links to an archived page from a Chinese University website showing those orders from the Chinese central government. Your link refers to the Chinese government demanding pre-approval of domestic research relating to the pandemic - not documents supposedly covering up an accidental release of the virus. The “documents” I referred to were cited in the Fox News link provided when this thread was revived. > [@](#): > > The “increasing confidence” (in an alleged coverup of accidental release) comes from classified and open-source documents and evidence, the sources said. Fox News has requested to see the evidence directly. Sources emphasized – as is often the case with intelligence – that it’s not definitive and should not be characterized as such. Some inside the administration and the intelligence and epidemiological communities are more skeptical, and the investigation is continuing. References to “flimflammery” and “petards”, while colorful, are not a substitute for evidence. By the way, claiming that people skeptical of the coverup theory are somehow defending China is similar to what antivaxers and alt med enthusiasts say - that debunking their nutty claims means that skeptics are defending or in league with Big Pharma. Personally, I have little use for the repressive China regime or for that matter the abuses of Big Pharma. That doesn’t mean that since they’ve acted badly in certain instances, we must give credence to every out-there conspiracy theory about them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-ct-where-it-came-from/850822.md?page=2)