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Comment by Michael Weissman

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Condensed-matter physicist, emeritus professor at the University of Illinois, who argues proximity ascertainment bias undermines the Huanan clustering inference.
I showed that the latter theory at least gave the correct sign of the difference between the median distances from HSM to unlinked vs. to linked cases, while the Worobey model gave the wrong sign.
AI Verified (Feb 3, 2025)
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Michael Weissman, University of Illinois (Substack)
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Policy proposals and claims

The clustering of early cases around the Huanan market reflects where the COVID-19 virus emerged, not just where testing looked
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AI Verified Relevant: in the source context, “the latter theory” is explicitly the idea that unlinked cases clustered near the Huanan market because detection was enhanced for people living near the market, while the Worobey model treats the clustering as evidence for market origin. The quoted sentence says that ascertainment-bias theory fit the observed distance pattern better, so it directly bears on whether clustering reflects emergence or where testing looked, making a determinate stance substantially more likely. ([michaelweissman.substack.com](https://michaelweissman.substack.com/p/big-news-on-covid-origins)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago
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AI Verified Against: in the article, “the latter theory” is the idea that cases clustered near HSM because of “enhanced detection probability” tied to how cases were found, and the quote says that theory “gave the correct sign” while the Worobey market-emergence model “gave the wrong sign.” That implies the author rejects the claim that the clustering mainly reflects where the virus emerged rather than where testing looked. ([michaelweissman.substack.com](https://michaelweissman.substack.com/p/big-news-on-covid-origins)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

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AI Verified The quote is authentic. The supplied Substack URL is fetchable, and the post "Big News on Covid Origins" is by Michael Weissman and dated 2025-02-03; the fetched page contains the quoted sentence with the same wording, with only a renderer artifact where an inline citation link splits the word "the." Substack’s profile page and the University of Illinois profile corroborate the attribution to Michael Weissman. ([michaelweissman.substack.com](https://michaelweissman.substack.com/p/big-news-on-covid-origins)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago
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