Originally Posted by
angrysoba
But I think this misses another point. It seems only fairly recently have the researchers led by Shi Zhengli discovered that the original SARS came from Yunnan Province, and yet it turned up in Guanzhou City, so it clearly travelled far from its origin. This is the most important point. Where it emerges is not necessarily where it originates!
However, as I posted previously, the types of coronaviruses that share almost all of the genetic make-up of SARS Cov2 are found over wide areas of China, South-East Asia and even in Japan (probably elsewhere as well). We have no reason for thinking that the one that orginated in Yunnan is the one that has emerged as SARS Cov2. There could likely be several areas from which it broke out.
From what I have read, when looking at the whole genome, the closest related virus to SARS-CoV-2 continues to be
RaTG13, collected from a cave in Yunnan.
I have not seen any conflicting research that proposes a closer 'whole genome' match. There could be, or might be in the future.
If you are aware of new data, let me know.