Origins of coronavirus in laboratory unlikely: German biologist

NICOSIA -- The coronavirus is unlikely to originate from a laboratory, German biologist and veterinarian Fabian Leendertz was quoted by local media Famagusta Gazette as saying recently.

In an interview on Sunday with German newspaper Welt, Leendertz said the coronavirus would spread "unnoticed and quickly," adding that it "may well be that Wuhan is just the place where it was first detected -- since there are good hospitals and diagnostics there -- and not the place where patient zero lives or has lived."

He also noted that the laboratories at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were characterized by "high safety standards to avoid infecting employees."