Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

It is possible a less virulent less noticeable variant was out much earlier, obviously.  But the one we have now is so contagious I think it would have ravaged seniors earlier as nobody had a clue they needed to be isolated.  The curves below are true nearly everywhere, and coincident with COVID known outbreaks.

Well, I figure virologists who study the DNA sequences and determine strains know something. 

They say the G and its variant substrains GH and GR mutated in January and February, respectively. Which, considering that since then they'd grown to 74% of prevalence by August (according to that sciencedaily article), suggests they're FAR more transmissible than the original L strain from Wuhan.

Which of course perfectly fits what we saw. We probably had the L strain in the US by December, but cases initially grew slowly. Which makes sense that it hit San Jose and Seattle, because both areas have huge economic ties to China due to the tech sector. But it didn't spread like wildfire, because it's not as transmissible. Once the G strain hit from Europe, especially having hit densely populated areas like NYC/NJ which have more exposure to Europe than we have on the West Coast, it just exploded. 

It probably also [more than masks] explains why so many Asian countries have done well with this. They locked down before G, GR, and GH could really establish themselves. The fact that they instituted containment measures and then already had a mask-friendly culture kept those strains from gaining any foothold whatsoever, while it ravaged Europe and the US because we didn't embrace masks.

I don't think it was bioengineered with intent, but.....

the Chinese and the WHO intentionally kept the seriousness of the virus under wraps to protect themselves and allow the spread to  Europe and the USA

Trump downplaying it to me was the equivalent of someone saying, “It’s going to be ok” when you get bad news.  It was meant to provide hope.  He would trot out the experts to give the grim facts and what to do to protect yourself so I never thought he was hiding that.  

I’m still not sure what Trump was supposed to say in early February when there were literally less than 20 people in the country infected and not one death in the country attributed to it yet.  I do know by the time he had the conversation with Woodward he had already put travel restrictions coming from China and declared a national health emergency and that was with almost no cases in the country to speak of.  IMO, the virus was probably here long before 2019 even ended.  We just didn’t know it yet.

I’m not a big fan of hindsight criticism and that is what all of this is.

This from my travel agent............. so taken with a grain of salt

A new study by the Department of Defense just came out with their completed study about 5 days ago that said the Risk of COVID-19 exposure on planes is 'virtually non- existent' when masked. Good news!! The International Air Transport Association also released new research, saying the risk of contracting the virus on a plane appears to be "in the same category as being struck by lightning.”

Among 1.2 billion travelers, they found only 44 published cases of potential in-flight transmission. Most of those 44 cases occurred in the early days of the pandemic when masks were not required. Their test indicates that being on board an aircraft is the safest indoor public space, because of the unique configuration inside an aircraft that includes aggressive ventilation, and lots of airflow.

I saw that on the news last week.

President Donald Trump said Monday that he will take a coronavirus test before his next debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden later this week.

Seems to be a "good" message.

Huh, that hypothesis appears to be consistent with the known data from what I can tell.

As you note, it also suggests this was not bioengineered with intent.

Fascinating, good work.

As far as I can tell no credible person thinks this was bioengineered in a lab. 

Many very smart, credible people however believe it accidentally escaped from a lab. 

There is a huge difference.

As far as I can tell no credible person thinks this was bioengineered in a lab.

Many very smart, credible people however believe it accidentally escaped from a lab.

There is a huge difference.

I don't "believe" it accidentally escaped from a lab. I don't have evidence for such to justify a "belief". 

I do, however, find that a very plausible possibility, given that there is a lab in Wuhan that studies these types of viruses. And therefore I have not in any way ruled it out.