Unless the virus derived from gain-of-function research, which is one of the likely hypothetical origins.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10234839/

That wouldn't be as relevant as whether or not it was a leak. The censorship around this was dystopian and it raises serious questions about dodging responsibility.

But it very likely was, given what US Right to Know has uncovered just doing FOIA requests on NIH and other agencies’ emails.