, which they then said was "unlikely to be fortuitous in nature" and prompting speculation that the virus was bio-engineered.

Following a flood of angry reactions amid rising public concern that coronavirus may have been a genetically-engineered and airborne version of the HIV virus, the scientists eventually withdrew their paper.

However, it now appears there may have been more truth there than scientist peers were willing to acknowledge, because why else would one of the world's most developed nations start using anti-HIV drugs to treat coronavirus infections?

According to Reuters, "as an increase in the number of cases poses a growing threat to the economy and public health,"  Japan plans to start trials of "HIV medications to treat coronavirus patients", the government's top spokesman said on Tuesday.

The government is making "preparations so that clinical trials using HIV medication on the novel coronavirus can start as soon as possible," Yoshihide Suga told a briefing, but added he could not say how long it might take to approve a drug's use.

As we reported earlier, a further 88 people tested positive for the virus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined off the port of Yokohama the Health Ministry said, bringing the total number of infected passengers to 542, or roughly 100 more cases than have been reported everywhere else in the world outside of China!