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Comment by David L. Robertson

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Virologist at the University of Glasgow specializing in viral genomics and evolution
it's exactly what we would expect, because many people only get very mildly ill, so they would be out in the community transmitting the virus to others and the severe cases would be hard to link to each other.
AI Verified (Jul 26, 2022)
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David Robertson, quoted by Axios from BBC News, July 26, 2022.
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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 In the Axios source, Robertson is explaining why many early severe cases would not all show direct market links even if the outbreak began there: mild cases could spread in the community first, making later severe cases harder to connect. That is a direct reason bearing on whether the market-centered early-case pattern reflects the outbreak’s origin rather than merely where investigators looked, so the quote provides a determinable stance signal on the complete statement. ([axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2022/07/26/covid-studdy-wuhan-market?utm_source=openai)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 1h ago
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AI Verified In context, Robertson is explaining why some early severe cases lacked a direct market link: mild cases would be out in the community transmitting, and later severe cases would be "hard to link to each other." That uses community spread from the market to explain the pattern, so it supports the idea that the clustering reflects where the virus emerged, not merely where investigators looked. ([axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2022/07/26/covid-studdy-wuhan-market)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 1h ago

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AI Verified The source URL is fetchable, and Axios’s July 26, 2022 article contains the quoted sentence verbatim, attributing it to "David Robertson" after saying the University of Glasgow virologist "told BBC News." University of Glasgow’s staff page identifies that virologist as Professor David L Robertson, so the stored author, date, quote text, and source URL are consistent. ([axios.com](https://www.axios.com/2022/07/26/covid-studdy-wuhan-market?utm_source=openai)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 1h ago
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