COVID-19: 'Extremely unlikely' coronavirus came from Wuhan lab as evidence points to 'intermediary species'

It is 'extremely unlikely' the novel coronavirus came from a laboratory incident in China, according to a joint mission investigating the origins of the pandemic. Investigators believe the most likely cause of the initial outbreak was the virus jumping from an 'intermediary host species' to humans. It means future investigations will not focus on a laboratory incident as a potential cause of the outbreak. An international team of World Health Organisation (WHO) scientists, working with experts in China, has been researching how the COVID-19 pandemic began.