100% agreed. Again, this is a possibility, not a certainty. But I'd be loath to dismiss it, just as I am not willing to dismiss a reservoir origin. In the end, the author does make a good point: we need mandatory disclosures of GoF research and a general ban on GoF financing of labs who aren't working in full disclosure mode.

Ideally, we should not have this discussion because the GoF leak is impossible. Sadly, as secretive as this research is, as much money as we funnel into labs in China and Russia, and as reluctant as oversight authorities (such as the WHO) are to even consider leaks, the best response would be a general ban on GoF and GoF financing.

There is a belief that Omicron originated in South Africa, but some growing evidence that it was present elsewhere earlier, but only either detected or first identified early on in South Africa.

This is the first link in a search for same:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/omicron-variant-covid-in-europe...

Either way, it may be wrong to assume SA is point of origin, so any follow-on assumptions may be comparably flawed.