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Comment by James Wood

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University of Cambridge epidemiologist
through a laboratory accident, where a laboratory worker was inadvertently infected from a sample they were processing, subsequently infecting other people.
AI Verified (Nov 28, 2023)
Source:
James Wood, expert reaction published by the Science Media Centre, November 28, 2023.
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Policy proposals and claims
COVID-19 originated from a lab-related incident rather than natural zoonotic spillover
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Statement relation comments

AI Verified Relevant: the quote is directly about the statement’s core lab-incident origin claim. In source context, James Wood contrasts transmission via traded wildlife with transmission through a laboratory accident, then says genomics cannot distinguish between those routes and that it may never be possible to know with confidence. That makes an abstention/uncertainty stance on the complete statement determinable. ([sciencemediacentre.org](https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-comments-made-by-michael-gove-at-the-covid-19-inquiry-about-the-origins-of-covid-19-saying-the-virus-may-have-been-man-made/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3h ago
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AI Verified He does not take a side on lab accident vs zoonotic spillover: in context, Wood says genomics "cannot ... distinguish" between transmission via traded wildlife and "a laboratory accident," and adds it "may never be possible to know with confidence" how the virus entered humans. That is explicitly undecided on the statement. ([sciencemediacentre.org](https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-comments-made-by-michael-gove-at-the-covid-19-inquiry-about-the-origins-of-covid-19-saying-the-virus-may-have-been-man-made/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3h ago

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AI Verified The Science Media Centre page published on 2023-11-28 attributes the statement to "Prof James Wood, Infectious Disease Epidemiologist at the University of Cambridge and Co-Director of Cambridge Infectious Diseases" and contains the exact words "through a laboratory accident, where a laboratory worker was inadvertently infected from a sample they were processing, subsequently infecting other people." The stored author, date, source URL, and quoted wording match the fetchable source. ([sciencemediacentre.org](https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-comments-made-by-michael-gove-at-the-covid-19-inquiry-about-the-origins-of-covid-19-saying-the-virus-may-have-been-man-made/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3h ago
replying to James Wood