I think it’s important to note that there are really two “lab leak” theories:
One in which the virus developed naturally, was collected in a remote location, and was being studied in a lab when it leaked from the lab into nearby human society.
One in which it was not a dangerous virus originally, and it became dangerous in the lab through human agency, either maliciously (e.g. bioweapons research) or accidentally (e.g. gain-of-function research).
Note that in the first theory, the virus has a natural origin, but the pandemic originates in the lab leak.
These two theories get mixed up constantly, either by accident or on purpose, who knows. For example look at this CNN story:
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/01/25/politics/covid-19-lab-lea...
First paragraph: “The CIA now assesses the virus that causes Covid-19 more likely originated from an accidental lab leak in China, rather than occurring naturally”
Deeper in the story: “Every US intelligence agency still unanimously maintains that Covid-19 was not developed as a biological weapon” and “almost all American intelligence agencies also assess that the virus itself was not genetically engineered.”
So it didn’t occur “naturally” but also wasn’t developed or engineered. Makes no sense.