Egyptian lawyer Mohamed Talaat is seeking $10 trillion in compensation from the Chinese government for damages sustained by Egypt as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Earlier this month, Talaat sent the Chinese Embassy in Cairo a formal notice of the lawsuit he intends to file against the Chinese authorities for the harm caused to Egypt by what he called the "Chinese virus."

Announcing his plan to take China to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Talaat said, "The coronavirus is a biological weapon that was developed in a Chinese lab."

"The US has filed a legal complaint against China over the coronavirus outbreak, so why can't Egypt do the same?" he asked, in reference to a $20 trillion lawsuit filed by American right-wing lawyer Larry Klayman and his advocacy group Freedom Watch March 19. Klayman also claims that the novel coronavirus was "designed by China" to "kill US citizens and other persons and entities in nations perceived to be enemies of China." 

Researchers have since discredited the conspiracy theory, with studies suggesting that the virus originated in bats and jumped to humans via an intermediary species such as the pangolin.