Comment by Andrew J. Broadbent

The arguments are based on conjecture, correlation, and anecdote. Dr. Chan’s New York Times opinion piece misrepresents and underplays the existing scientific data supporting a zoonotic origin of SARS-CoV-2. There is currently no verified scientific evidence to support the lab leak hypothesis. Moreover, the assertions in the Chan article have been challenged by a growing body of scientific data supporting the zoonosis hypothesis. Dr. Chan’s five key points are well refuted by the data, as discussed in publicly accessible platforms by Dr. Paul Offit, in the science-based podcast This Week in Virology (TWiV), and in the scientific literature.