A man shines a light in the abandoned Wanling cave near Manhaguo village in southern China's Yunnan province on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. Villagers said the cave had been used as a sacred altar presided over by a Buddhist monk _ precisely the kind of contact between bats and people that alarms scientists. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Huanan market vendor Jiang Dafa tends to his pigeons at home in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Oct. 22, 2020. China's search for the COVID-19 virus started in the Huanan Seafood market in Wuhan, a sprawling, low-slung complex where many of the first human coronavirus cases were detected. Scientists initially suspected the virus came from wild animals sold in the market. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A man stands inside the abandoned Wanling cave near Manhaguo village in southern China's Yunnan province on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. Villagers said the cave had been used as a sacred altar presided over by a Buddhist monk _ precisely the kind of contact between bats and people that alarms scientists. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Villagers wave away journalists visiting a village near Danaoshan in southern China's Yunnan province on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. A mine shaft in the area once harbored bats infected with the closest known relative of the COVID-19 virus. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A group claiming to be local villagers use vehicles to block the roads leading to a mineshaft near Danaoshan in southern China's Yunnan province on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. The mine shaft once harbored bats infected with the closest known relative of the COVID-19 virus. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Villagers go about their evening near posters depicting Mao Zedong in Manhaguo village in southern China's Yunnan province on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. Residents said a nearby cave had been used as a sacred altar presided over by a Buddhist monk _ precisely the kind of contact between bats and people that alarms scientists. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

People eat in a restaurant outside of Kunming in southern China's Yunnan province on Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. More than a year since the first known person was infected with the coronavirus, an Associated Press investigation has found the Chinese government is strictly controlling all research into its origins, clamping down on some while actively promoting fringe theories that it could have come from outside China. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 10, 2020 file photo, people walk by a giant TV screen at a quiet shopping mall in Beijing broadcasting news of Chinese President Xi Jinping talking to medical workers at the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, as he visited the center of the global virus outbreak. The government is handing out hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to scientists researching the virus’ origins in southern China and with the military, The Associated Press has found. But it is monitoring their findings and mandating that the publication of any data or research must be approved by a new task force managed by China’s cabinet, under direct orders from President Xi Jinping, according to internal documents obtained by the AP. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Visitors look inside the abandoned Wanling cave near Manhaguo village in southern China's Yunnan province on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. Villagers said the cave had been used as a sacred altar presided over by a Buddhist monk _ precisely the kind of contact between bats and people that alarms scientists. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A group claiming to be local villagers use vehicles to block the roads leading to a mineshaft near Danaoshan in southern China's Yunnan province on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. The mine shaft once harbored bats infected with the closest known relative of the COVID-19 virus. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A worker wearing a mask peeps out behind construction barrier with a notice depicting a bat and advocating for people not to eat wild animals at the airport in Kunming in southern China's Yunnan province on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020. More than a year since the first known person was infected with the coronavirus, an Associated Press investigation has found the Chinese government is strictly controlling all research into its origins, clamping down on some while actively promoting theories that it could have come from outside China. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

The entrance to the abandoned Wanling cave is littered with religious paraphernalia near Manhaguo village in southern China's Yunnan province on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. Villagers said the cave had been used as a sacred altar presided over by a Buddhist monk _ precisely the kind of contact between bats and people that alarms scientists. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)