In your opinion, which of the following is the most likely explanation for Covid’s origin?

🔬 Lab-leak hypothesis (67%) – "Depending on specific viral evolution to make the bridge between animals to humans rather than assuming human stupidity as the cause is a greater leap of faith than I'm willing to make. Not that it's impossible, but human hubris is the cause of a great many disasters and the most likely culprit in the COVID debacle."

• "The transmission from animals theory doesn’t add up scientifically. Yes there are viruses that cross species but they often fizzle quickly and are typically less serious in the people than they were in the animals. Not to mention the animal jump theory originated out of China, and it’s in their best interest to try and wash their hands of the situation. I think the real question at this point should be, was this an accident or was it intentional?"

"Occam's razor, the simplest answer tends to be the right answer. Animal to human transmission of a complicated virus like the coronavirus is highly unlikely; and to occur in the same location where there is a lab studying that same virus? I'll take the simplest explanation."

• "What are the odds that a novel coronavirus emerged in the same city where China’s premier coronavirus research lab (which was engaged in gain of function research) is located? The odds of that being a coincidence seem pretty tiny compared to the odds that China wasn’t adhering to the highest bio safety lab (BSL) standards and thus allowed a chimeric virus to unwittingly infect one or more of its researchers, with the rest being history…"

"The explanations for how a natural occurrence could have happened are not plausible in my mind. It’s much more realistic for it to have been leaked from a lab than any of the explanations they have attempted to provide for the natural occurrence theory. The natural occurrence proponents sound like a young child caught disobeying who try to make excuses."

• "The proposal was ultimately rejected so we're just to believe every scientist on the team took that answer laying down? Highly unlikely. I think it's much more plausible the project continued to be worked on by one or more people without being openly or widely acknowledged and, because proper precautions weren't in place, it got out of hand and accidentally leaked. I will not go so far as to say it was a malicious, intentional act by any one person or government, but I do think it was man-made and not properly handled."

🦇 Natural transmission (21%) – "If you read science news and books, you would know it has been traced to a particular wildlife market in Wuhan, and even a particular species of animal. It's only natural scientists are studying this subject because they have been warning us for DECADES that new viruses will be what kills humans off. And apparently this study, funded by the U.S. by the way, never happened. Believe me, I of all people am willing to believe the governments of the world, including our own, are ready and willing to kill us off - just the poor folk - but I feel there is enough factual, scientific proof that this is a naturally occurring virus."

• "Just look at how may variants Covid has had since they have been studying it. It probably had millions of variants before one was able to jump from animals to people. It just seems likely."

🦠 Other (12%) – "In an effort to respond to this poll. "Finger pointing" and an understanding of the origins, in my humble estimation, only serves one positive purpose - to strengthen future 'best practices' in order to avoid such a catastrophe. Outside of that, I think we're missing the point. It doesn't matter how or where Covid-19 originated at this point - the only pertinent piece of the puzzle is that it's here, the happened, and we are finding ways to combat and adapt. We would be better spent strengthening and supporting the scientific community as we continue to innovate ways in which we can avoid and mitigate such a global catastrophe again."