Flinders’ University Professor Nikolai Petrovsky says it’s proving difficult to explain how COVID-19 was “clearly perfectly adapted to humans from day one” which is not typical in a virus which has spread from wild animals.
Professor Petrovsky has completed a scientific study, currently undergoing peer review, in conjunction with La Trobe University in Victoria, which found COVID-19 was uniquely adapted for transmission to humans, far more than any other animal, including bats.
He told Sky News this highly unusual finding left open the possibility that the virus leaked from a laboratory.
Although unconfirmed, it is widely believed the deadly virus originated from a live animal market in Wuhan, but Professor Petrovsky said when facts are uncovered which “don’t seem to fit what people are saying, then you’re obliged to make them public somehow”.
“This virus is amazingly adapted to humans and that’s not normal in a situation where a virus has come from a wild animal to a human.
“Typically it takes a while for that virus to adjust to a human environment, (but) this virus was clearly perfectly adapted to humans from day one”.
Professor Petrovsky said although this is unusual it could still be a “natural experiment that nature has thrown at us,” which is why he couldn’t rule any theory in or out as they are “all still possibilities that need to be addressed”.
Image: AP
