MUMBAI: While there is no scientific evidence yet to prove the coronavirus was first transmitted from a bat to a person who might have consumed the animal, actor Emraan Hashmi made such a case in his latest tweet with mock conviction.

"And all this because some person thousands of miles away wanted to have a freakish culinary experience like eating a BAT," tweeted @emraan hashmi, venting ire on someone in the faraway Chinese city of Wuhan who might have consumed an infected bat to contract COVID-19, and then pass it on to others, thereby planting the seed of the ongoing global pandemic.

At the last count, over half a million coronavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 22,000 deaths. In India so far, there have 16 deaths reported and the number of cases that have tested positive has risen to 694. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared a 21-day national lockdown to stem the spread of the virus.