U.S. President Joe Biden ordered a closer intelligence review on classified information about the origins of COVID-19 after the Intelligence Community coalesced around two likely scenarios and not yet reached a definitive conclusion.
He further stated that the two elements in the Intelligence Community lean towards the human contact while one leans more toward the laboratory leak-- each with low or moderate confidence. Also, the majority of the elements believe there is insufficient information to assess one to be more likely than the other.
Against this backdrop, President Biden ordered the Intelligence Community to redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information to reach a definitive conclusion, and report back to him in 90 days. As part of this report, he asked for areas of further inquiry that may be required, including specific questions for China.
What does this strange public disclosure suggest?
President Biden's unusual public disclosure about an inconclusive and private U.S. intelligence report reveals a debate raging within his administration on the origins of the COVID-19. It also points out that the virus may have emerged from a Chinese laboratory.
The new directive was issued by President Biden as the origins of the coronavirus pandemic are still officially unknown. Additionally, the agencies have been examining the reports over the illness of researchers at Wuhan virology laboratory in 2019, a month before the first cases of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic were reported.
| In March 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden tasked the U.S. intelligence agencies to prepare a detailed report on their most up-to-date analysis of the origins of the deadly coronavirus, including whether it emerged from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory accident in China. |
China's reaction over the review of COVID-19 origins
Following this, the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. stated that politicizing the issue would hamper investigations into the origins of COVID-19. The embassy further stated that China supports a comprehensive study of all early cases of COVID-19 found worldwide and a thorough investigation into some secretive bases and biological laboratories all over the world.
U.S. efforts in determining the true origins of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have been met with resistance by the Chinese Government. The government limited outside access to the Wuhan lab and refused to share a log of the scientists’ activities.
According to the White House officials, China has not been completely transparent in the global investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and a full investigation is needed to determine the same.
Speculations over the origin of COVID-19
Earlier, speculations were made that the virus may have escaped from a Chinese laboratory. However, these hypotheses were dismissed by some as a conspiracy theory but have now gained momentum again.
U.S. Government sources were quoted by Reuters as saying, "A still-classified U.S. intelligence report circulated during former President Donald Trump's administration alleged that three researchers at China's Wuhan Institute of Virology became so ill in November 2019 that they sought hospital care."
It remained unclear whether the researchers were admitted to the hospital or what symptoms they had, said one of the sources, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the exact cause of the pandemic is unknown. From what is known, the disease originally came from an animal, likely a bat.
It is to be noted that the COVID-19 was first discovered in China's Wuhan and since then has claimed 3.49 million lives globally (at the time of writing this article).
Also, WHO in its report dated 30 March 2021 has dismissed the lab leak theory citing it extremely unlikely. The report was, however, criticized by scientists who said that the WHO gave the possibility of a lab accident short shrift compared with a natural-origin scenario. Also, the questions persist about the level of access provided to the WHO investigators during a fact-finding mission in China's Wuhan.
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