I had a great exchange with @JeremyKonyndyk about the state department cables reported yesterday by @joshrogin and the credence they supposedly lend to the "lab accident" origin story of #SARSCoV2. Jeremy distilled this into the perfect meme: https://twitter.com/JeremyKonyndyk/status/1250475985092386816

Now read the whole thread. The bottom line is that those vague diplomatic cables do not provide any specific information suggesting that #SARSCoV2 emerged from incompetence or poor biosafety protocols or anything else. https://twitter.com/JeremyKonyndyk/status/1250475977647575042

We don't know how this virus emerged, but all evidence points to spillover from its natural reservoir, whether that be a bat or some other intermediate species, pangolins or otherwise. Pushing this unsupported "accident" theory hinders efforts to actually determine virus origin

It's irresponsible for political reporters like Rogin uncritically regurgitate a secret "cable" without asking a single virologist or ecologist or making any attempt to understand the scientific context. Thank you, @JeremyKonyndyk, for calling this out.

And also, thank you, @JeremyKonyndyk, for taking the time to do what @joshrogin did not: actually try to understand the underlying science before making rash conclusions about this critical question about the virus's origins.