Thanks for the find. In the beginning this was my preferred theory. It made the most sense. But was also the most racist sounding ergo shut down almost as soon as it was mentioned.

I'm not understanding how the virus emerging from animals is racist.

I still have the question, if The finding comes from a reanalysis of genomic data. what the hell was wrong with all the prior (and there were many many many) analyses of the genomic data?
This could just be more obfuscation and deflection masquerading as intrepid scientific pursuit of truth

It's fine to be critical, read what you can of the article and others.

SNIP

New techniques
The latest study used more-sophisticated genomic techniques to identify species represented in the samples, including half a dozen animals the team says are possible intermediate hosts of SARS-Cov-2. The most likely hosts include raccoon dogs and masked palm civet (Paguma larvata), which also might be susceptible to the virus. Other possible hosts include hoary bamboo rats (Rhizomys pruinosus), Amur hedgehogs (Erinaceus amurensis) and the Malayan porcupine (Hystrix brachyura), but it is unclear whether these animals can catch SARS-CoV-2 and spread the infection. The team says the Reeves’s muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) and the Himalayan marmot (Marmota himalayana) could also be carriers, but are less likely than the other species.
The co-location of viral and animal genetic material is “strongly suggestive” that the animals were infected, says Gigi Gronvall, a biosecurity specialist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. “I was quite amazed by how many animals were there,” she says.
Bats, from which the progenitor of SARS-CoV-2 probably originated, were not detected in the genetic data. The lack of bat DNA is unsurprising, says Alice Hughes, a conservation biologist at the University of Hong Kong who studies bats and the wildlife trade. Although bats are commonly eaten in southern China, they are not typically sold in the country’s markets.
The authors of the Cell study also argue that the viral diversity present in the market suggests it was the site of the pandemic’s emergence. In particular, they say the presence of two SARS-CoV-2 lineages — known as A and B — circulating in the market suggests that the virus jumped twice from animals to people. The researchers conclude that, although it is possible that infected humans brought the virus to the market on two separate occasions, that is a much less likely scenario than the virus jumping twice from animals, especially since their analysis suggests that very few people would have been infected at that point and it is unlikely that one person seeded both lineages. “It really just fits this ongoing infection in animal populations that spilled over multiple times to people,” says Gronvall. SNIP

And it looks like all of the article wasn't archived.