What is the origin of SARS-COV-2, the virus that has killed 3.5 mn people till now?

The origins of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) which has left around 3.5 million dead and more than 168 million affected around the world remains a mystery. 'What is the origin of the virus that has ravaged the world' remains a widely debated topic, with some scientists and politicians maintaining that the possibility of a lab leak of the deadly virus exists. In the past few days, the theory that the virus emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, which was once dismissed, has suddenly gained steam with US President Joe Biden ordering a review of COVID-19 origins. The institute is said to be near the outbreak's known epicentre of Huanan Seafood Market in central China's Wuhan city, where the virus first emerged in late 2019 and became a pandemic. Let's take a look at some of the controversies that emerged over the origin of coronavirus.

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged last year that the ruling Communist Party of China was covering up the coronavirus outbreak. He said that China not only refuted the 'originated-in-lab' allegations but also announced that it started at a wet market in China. The former minister added that a high-level group of Chinese scientists first identified the person-to-person transmission of coronavirus on January 19, 2020. China's Wuhan Institute of Virology has been accused of spreading the COVID virus through a lab leak.

Earlier this year, the World Health Organisation called the possibility of the COVID virus leak from a Chinese lab 'extremely unlikely'. The probe carried out by the WHO team in China was criticised by several governments, including the US and the UK for limited access to the original data and samples, granted by the Chinese government. The organisation was also accused of being biased towards China and criticised for involving 17 Chinese scientists, mostly belonging to the state-run institutions, to carry out the study.

At a virtual event on May 11 titled 'United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking', Dr Anthony Fauci, Director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical advisor to the US president, said that he was not convinced with the theory that the COVID virus happened naturally. He said that the investigation should continue to get an idea of what went on in China. Fauci added that he was in favour of any kind of investigation that looked into the origin of the virus as he was unconvinced of the theory that the virus emerged from an animal reservoir that infected other people, as the only possibility. His comments drew the ire of the Chinese state media, which accused him of attempting to hype 'the old and groundless narrative' of the virus leak from a Chinese laboratory.

Remarks of the former head of the US Food and Drug Administration

Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), told US media on May 25 that the circumstantial evidence, suggesting the COVID virus' leak from the Chinese lab theory is increasing. Gottlieb said that the intermediate host of the COVID virus is yet to be found and called the current virus different than MERS and SARS, where the intermediate hosts were discovered. He also added that it is unlikely for the world to ever know if the COVID virus escaped from a Chinese lab unless there's a whistleblower or regime change in China.

Dr Li Meng-Yan, a Chinese virologist alleged last year that the coronavirus was created in a Wuhan lab and vowed to publish the proof. The researcher working at the 'Hong Kong School of Public Health' also accused the Chinese government of covering up the outbreak in Wuhan. The virologist fled to the United States early last year with the fear of getting silenced by the Chinese government. She also added that genome sequencing is like a human fingerprint, which can help trace back to its creator.

American study on origin of COVID

The scientists of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Red Cross found evidence last year, alleging the presence of the COVID-19 virus in the United States in 2019, weeks before the first case of infection was discovered in Wuhan, China. The study results were published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, which included blood test results carried out between December 2019 and January 2020 for COVID-19 antibodies. The findings pointed to the presence of coronavirus in several US states before it got recognised publicly.

China's Intent To Study Bio-weapons

An Australian newspaper in May revealed that Chinese scientists were discussing bio-weapons, imagining a World War-3 scenario. The newspaper mentioned a Chinese document discussing the weaponisation of the COVID virus, titled 'The Unnatural Origin of SARS and New Species of Man-Made Viruses as Genetic Bioweapons'. The article was written by Chinese scientists, Chinese public health officials and members of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and was released 5 years before the COVID outbreak. It also talked about how Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronaviruses can be used as genetic weapons and unleashed into the world.