DISINFO: Coronavirus was developed in a laboratory; it has HIV inserts
SUMMARY
In India [researchers] have decoded the coronavirus genome. What did they find? On the surface [of the virus] there is a protein, a glycoprotein, and there are four HIV inserts. This is key. (…) It could not have happened naturally. These inserts could only be created in a laboratory.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy theory with no evidence given. One of many recurring Kremlin disinformation narratives claiming that the outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus is man-made. COVID-19 is not a biological weapon. A recent analysis of the genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2 virus found no evidence that it was developed artificially in a lab or otherwise engineered. The virus comes from a family of viruses originating in animals that include other viruses such as SARS and MERS. It was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan in central China and has been rapidly spreading across the world. The number of COVID-19 cases surpassed 300,000 globally with over 14,000 deaths by 23 March 2020. Cases have been reported in 190 countries, territories and areas. Many other claims have been pushed by pro-Kremlin media since the outbreak started in January 2020, for example, that COVID-19 is a biological weapon to make the planet's population infertile, that it was born in a laboratory to infect the Chinese, that it is an element of hybrid warfare and that it is a pretext to introduce tyranny by the ruling class.