Comment by DiogenesKynikos

Where did you read that?

SARS-CoV-2 is not descended from any previously known variant. In fact, since the pandemic started, closer cousins of SARS-CoV-2 have been found in the wild in Laos.

The evidence points very strongly to the initial outbreak having been at the Huanan wet market in Wuhan, not anywhere near the lab. All the early cases were near the market, and SARS-CoV-2 RNA was found in the wild animal stalls afterwards.

The beginnings of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak actually look exactly like the beginnings of the original SARS outbreak - an initial outbreak in a wet market that sells wild animals in a major city.