This is true, but then why did it take so long to get the viral DNA structure out? Either way, if they were studying it they should have had this information. Which actually just leads thought towards to malintent end of the spectrum as to its origin and purpose.
I suppose it could have come from the lab, been naturally occurring, and unknown to the researchers all at the same time. But harder to believe that since the origin hypothesis suggests the purpose of the lab was precisely to study SARC-COV-2 viruses in bats. Then again, just trying to be fair, the lab may have been closed for the Lunar New Year leaving few people around to raise the red flag. Recall, this was being called a spike in pneumonia cases during the first many weeks. At least outside of Wuhan, they didn't know what to look for.
Because the natural reaction of low level flunkies is to hide their mistakes and lie their asses off. That’s why they are still low level flunkies.
People who take responsibility and fix or try to fix their errors tend to move up in an organization until they reach their level of incompetence (Peter Principle).
And this coronavirus may not have been one they had identified yet. Bats host many of them. Bat shit turns to powder rather quickly and would be easily inhaled while cleaning cages while not wearing PPE (like an illiterate cleaning lady). She picks up quite a viral load that way, but only gets mildly sick, spreads fomites all over the lab.
Maybe everyone at the lab gets mildly sick and thinks nothing of it, because it’s flu and cold season, so it just keeps spreading out into the <60 workforce until it deepens enough into the population that it finally gets to the older, sicker, stays mostly at home folks where it is now a noticeable problem and showing up at the hospitals.
This is just as likely, possibly more likely than accidental or intentional release of a virus that they’ve been tinkering with, because lab personnel would be aware and more cautious, knowing they have an actual infectious zoonotic specimen.
SARS1 and MERS were natural zoonotic events, so the fact that another natural zoonotic viral event happens is neither abnormal or unusual or rare. A synthetic zoonotic event has never happened before.
Doesn’t mean it couldn’t... but when you are looking at two explanations where the first explanation has happened many times in human history and the second explanation has never (yet) happened, then the first explanation is far more likely to be the correct one.