There is not at this time any consensus that COVID-19 leaked from the Wuhan Lab. [Recent investigation](https://wng.org/sift/house-gop-investigations-finds-evidence-of-covid-19-lab-leak-1627941125) has suggested that the virus had already been circulating in China as early as September of 2019, and there is also the suggestion that the Wuhan Lab's genetic sequencing database was taken offline during that month in the middle of the night, which has prompted some to consider cover-up. Important to note, however, is that there is certainly nothing like a consensus yet, even given these most recent proposals for evidence. It is still completely possible that COVID-19 transferred to humans from another animal. [Theoretically]( https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01529-30), COVID-19 could have come from a lab in several ways. SARS-CoV-2 could have been either collected from an animal or engineered by the lab, and then either accidentally or deliberately spread to someone who spread it to others. In addition, people argue that 1) it's strange no closest relative of SARS-CoV-2 has yet been found in animal, 2) COVID-19 being first detected near the Wuhan Lab seems an odd coincidence, and/or 3) the virus contains unusual features in the form of genetic sequences and increased spreadability among populations, pointing to its being engineered by humans. Finally, some say that "SARS-CoV-2 might have derived from coronaviruses found in an unused mine where WIV researchers collected samples from bats between 2012 and 2015." There is some [historical precedence]( https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01529-3) for lab leaks. Lab leaks have never caused an epidemic, much less a pandemic, but small outbreaks have occurred, such as the 2004 SARS outbreak from a virology lab in Beijing. The disease only spread to seven others before being contained. Each of the points above can be argued against, and many researchers and scientists have done just that, favoring the proposition that the virus came from another animal as in most pandemics. For example, some counterarguments: It can take many years to pinpoint the natural source of a virus; nearly every time some natural spread of a virus to humans occurs, there is a lab studying the same type of viruses nearby; and the optimal nature of the virus's genetic sequences could easily emerge naturally, including its optimization for human infection and spreading. (As well, the virus wasn't necessarily optimally transmissible until later on in the pandemic, anyway---once variants emerged, as they do naturally under natural selection pressure.) Finally, even any emerging evidence of a cover-up from China would not necessarily provide a smoking-gun signal for lab leak, since the country could have engaged in any potential "covering-up" just in case it looked like a lab leak happened, despite, perhaps, a lab leak actually not occurring. (Far-fetched, maybe, but not impossible.) It remains to be seen whether there will be any consensus on a lab leak for COVID-19. Intelligence communities are [gathering](https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/26/politics/biden-intelligence-community-pandemic-origins-report/index.html) more evidence for now, attempting to piece the puzzle together. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01529-3 Recent fact check on the latest findings of the US Republicans in the House Foreign Affairs Committee: https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-wuhan-lab-leak-confirmed-us-house-foreign-affairs-committee-1615732 **New update:** A new [origins report](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02366-0) find that "SARS-CoV-2 wasn’t weaponized and is unlikely to have been engineered." It is still inconclusive on the virus's origins.

**There is mixed evidence for where the coronavirus came from, put pushing the lab leak narrative creates increased prejudice towards Chinese and people of Chinese appearance of heritage.** There are several theories that have emerged surrounding where the coronavirus came from varying from animal host theory to lab leak theory. And the top and tail of this is that, at this point, it is still impossible to know with any certainty where the virus came from. There is evidence, as proved by the Sars outbreak, that coronaviruses do break out naturally and therefore that understanding their origins is difficult. And on the other hand, lab accidents do happen which means that without further evidence, a lab leak remains a possibility. But I think that the lab leak theory was propelled forward by the Trump administration that had an overtly hostile relationship with China. And the perpetuation of this narrative and blaming China for the coronavirus has lead to increased racial prejudices against Chinese people. In the United States, for example, the ‘Stop AAPI Hate’ forum has recorded more than [1100 instances of anti-Asian abuse since late March 2020](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7574839/). So while we cannot rule out the possibility that Covid leaked from a lab, it is dangerous to perpetuate that narrative with limited evidence at the expense of increased social cohesion.