CHINESE MOUTHPIECE OR USEFUL IDIOT? YOU DECIDE. University official says COVID-19 may have originated in the United States. “An official at the University of Washington suggested Wednesday that the coronavirus may have originated in the United States, a highly disputed theory that has been advanced by officials within the Chinese government. Rickey Hall, vice president for minority affairs and diversity at the University of Washington, made the comments during a Zoom panel discussion hosted by PEN America, a free expression nonprofit.”