I should have been more clear with my wording. I should have written 'relevant information' and not have chosen to use the term 'facts' in my comments.
Pertinent facts, should have read, relevant information directly related to COVID-19.
In any case, it's worth noting that the respected Lancet medical publication estimated that the Wuhan Corona-Virus likely originated from bats and that some had been found several hundred meters form the wet market in Wuhan.
However, the research paper linked above provides an alternative explanation of the origin of the virus - being the Level 4 Wuhan Lab within 280m of the market.
This is worth considering as, we can both agree, information coming from Chinese officials is incomplete and likely misleading.
From the Linked research paper:
Was there any other possible pathway? We screened the area around the seafood market and identified two laboratories conducting research on bat coronavirus.
Within ~280 meters from the market, there was the Wuhan Center for Disease Control & Prevention (WHCDC)(Figure 1, from Baidu and Google maps).
WHCDC hosted animals in laboratories for research purpose, one of which was specialized in pathogens collection and identification 4-6. In one of their studies, 155 bats including Rhinolophus affinis were captured in Hubei province, and other 450 bats were captured in Zhejiang province 4. The expert in collection was noted in the Author Contributions (JHT). Moreover, he was broadcasted for collecting viruses on nation-wide newspapers and websites in 2017 and 2019 7,8.
He described that he was once by attacked by bats and the blood of a bat shot on his skin. He knew the extreme danger of the infection so he quarantined himself for 14 days 7.
In another accident, he quarantined himself again because bats peed on him. He was once thrilled for capturing a bat carrying a live tick 8.Surgery was performed on the caged animals and the tissue samples were collected for DNA and RNA extraction and sequencing 4, 5. The tissue samples and contaminated trashes were source of pathogens. They were only ~280 meters from the seafood market.
The WHCDC was also adjacent to the Union Hospital (Figure 1, bottom) where the first group of doctors were infected during this epidemic. It is plausible that the virus leaked around and some of them contaminated the initial patients in this epidemic, though solid proofs are needed in future study.
The second laboratory was ~12 kilometers from the seafood market and belonged to Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences 1, 9, 10.
This laboratory reported that the Chinese horseshoe bats were natural reservoirs for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) which caused the 2002-3 pandemic 9. The principle investigator participated in a project which generated a chimeric virus using the SARS-CoV reverse genetics system, and reported the potential for human emergence
10. A direct speculation was that SARS-CoV or its derivative might leak from the laboratory.
In summary, somebody was entangled with the evolution of 2019-nCoV coronavirus. In addition to origins of natural recombination and intermediate host, the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan. Safety level may need to be reinforced in high risk biohazardous laboratories. Regulations may be taken to relocate these laboratories far away from city center and other densely populated places.
- From the South China University of Technology
https://web.archive.org/web/20200214144447/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339070128_The_possible_origins_of_2019-nCoV_coronavirus
** (emphasis added)
From this article the SUGGESTION is made that the virus 'probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan.'
This is not a "smoking gun" as the interviewer and interviewee suggest but a highly plausible explanation, nevertheless.
RE: US Biowarfare Act Author: Studies Confirm Coronavirus Weaponized