Mojiang mine, RaTG13, miners’ disease and related samples remain essential clues in the origin SARS-CoV-2

We had published an article about the link between the Mojiang mineshaft, RaTG13, and the miners’ disease (2012), Yunnan, China which has gained a lot of attention in the question on the origin of the COVID-19. The miners’ pneumonia resembled COVID-19 in many aspects on retrospective analysis. Recently, Frutos et al. reported that the miners did not have SARS-CoV-2 infection, and hence they tried to debunk the laboratory origin of the coronavirus. In the present article, we indicate the flaws in the interpretation and analysis of Frutos et al. We also discuss how Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), China, shared the information about the mine, miners and RaTG13 in an incomplete and delayed manner. None of the samples have been shared with the international community so far. Many of the journalists’ attempts to visit the mineshaft were in vain, as they were not allowed to reach the site. We also discuss why all the information related to the Mojiang mine samples, details of experiments done on these and sequences of all the SARS-like viruses would be crucial for the investigation on the origins of SARS-COV-2