Chloe Taylor , Cats should be kept inside if owners show coronavirus symptoms , veterinary scientists say , 8 April 2020 , CNBCOn 17 March 2020 , scientists reported that the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus , which causes the COVID-19 disease , and is responsible for the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic , originated naturally , and not otherwise , although Chinese medical researchers , including Shi Zhengli , in Wuhan China , were studying bat coronaviruses , by modifying virus genomes , in order to enter human cells , at least as early as 2014 , in testing laboratories that were determined to have significant safety issues by U.S. scientists in 2018.
Chinese medical researchers were trying to modify the genome of the bat 's coronavirus to enable it to enter human cells in 2014 , which were deemed to be safety issue by U.S. scientists by 2018 .