The first known Covid-19 case was a market vendor in the Chinese city of Wuhan, not an accountant who appeared to have no link to the market but whose case contributed to speculation the virus could have leaked from a lab, according to a US study

The origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 remains a mystery and a major source of tension between China and the US.

A joint study by China and the World Health Organisation this year all but ruled out the theory that Covid-19 originated in a laboratory, saying that the most likely hypothesis was that it infected humans naturally, probably via the wildlife trade, Reuters reports.

A worker in a protective suit is seen at the closed seafood market in Wuhan, Hubei province, China on January 10, 2020. — Reuters
A worker in a protective suit is seen at the closed seafood market in Wuhan, Hubei province, China on January 10, 2020. — Reuters

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