Did coronavirus come from a 'biological weapons programme'?

Another baseless theory that has appeared on social media is the suggestion that the virus is linked to a “covert biological weapons programme” in Wuhan or that it was smuggled from a Canadian laboratory.

Both claims have no evidence to support them.

The Canadian laboratory in question is the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, which in 2013 investigated a new cluster of coronavirus infections.

However, as mentioned earlier, there are many types of coronavirus and in this case the lab was examining MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome).

As for the supposed Chinese programme, some have linked the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory – a maximum security biolab which studies “the world’s most dangerous pathogens” - to a Chinese biological warfare programme, but China has denied having such a programme and the link between the lab and this outbreak of coronavirus is unproven.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said early reports suggest the virus originated at a seafood and animal market in Wuhan.