loudmouth2,
It's irrelevant how or where it started. The real culprits are the distributors, the willy nilly tourists & travel junkies ! Why you may ask ? Without them it could not have spread !

individual,

It's definitely not irrelevant where and how is started unless of course you are trying to get the Chinese off the hook like you seem to be wanting to do.

It was first discovered in China, no-one can tell for certain if it originated there or the catalyst for it to start there was brought to Wuhan by perhaps even an Australian travelling in from God knows where.
At least the Chinese were smart enough to find it first. We really should look at the countries where it transmitted the fastest & most !
Cruise ships could have been the birthplace of COVID-19, not necessarily Wuhan.

individual,

You are really intent on getting the Chinese off the hook for being the source of the Covid-19 pandemic.

I guess that's why you're in the pro-China camp and I'm not.

ttbn: 'In the UK, the emotive advertising of an 'even worse strain' of the virus that has arrived is being questioned by top scientists, who say it is too early to tell if there is a new strain or not.'

The fears round the new strain (vs. clinical and conditional science language) have been initiated/promoted by Tory media to make the Johnson government's chaotic and inconsistent response appear less shambolic....

Also in the UK a website with accurate science based information and rebutting:

'What is Anti-Virus?

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it an avalanche of misinformation. A number of myths have persisted that suggest Covid isn't particularly dangerous, or that governments shouldn't try to contain the virus with lockdowns and other distancing measures.

We call the people who promulgate these myths even after they have been disproved "Covid Sceptics"...... Some Covid Sceptics have tended to promote one or two of the common myths; some have promoted them all.

"Sceptics" might be seen as a flattering term: scepticism is often a good thing. But as we detail below, many of the people featured here have made persistently inaccurate forecasts, repeated long-disproven claims, or engaged in faulty reasoning. Indeed, those we discuss have arguably *not been sceptical enough* about the claims of alternative "experts" who have underestimated the risks of Covid.

The arguments made by Covid Sceptics are frequently misleading, misconceived, or based on misunderstandings of the evidence. We believe these mistaken arguments are often dangerous, since they might lead people—or entire countries—to take fewer precautions against this deadly virus.

This website is dedicated to debunking common Covid Sceptic arguments, and highlighting the track record of some of the most influential and consistently-wrong Covid Sceptics. We mostly focus on UK-based people, since most of this site's creators are UK-based as well. We hope you'll link to our site whenever you see these common arguments appear.

https://www.covidfaq.co/

In the UK Bug Ridden Boris is apologising, and admitting responsibility for the deaths of over 100,000 Britons. Tens of thousands of lives could have been saved if the Conservative halfwit had took control and followed the medical advice from the start. Unfortunately like Dangerous Doctor Donald in America, Johnson took the typical Tory approach of do nothing, believing the virus would miraculously cure itself. How wrong these Conservative fools have been. Will this Conservative fool resign as he should, no such indication as yet!

What a joke, Trumps America was rated 94 out of 98 countries for its shambolic handling of the pandemic, over 420,000 Americans dead! Great effort by the Labour government of Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand, rated number one in the world for its response to the pandemic. In times of cries every country needs a strong Socialist government to take control, not a couple of Conservative nut jobs like Trump and Johnson.