A US intelligence report now assumes that the corona virus escaped through a leak in a laboratory.
The US Department of Energy has now changed its mind regarding the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic. An intelligence report recently released to the White House and key members of Congress suggests the virus most likely broke out because of a leak at a lab, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources.
split opinions
The new report highlights how different parts of the intelligence community have come to different conclusions about the origin of the pandemic. The Department of Energy is now joining the FBI’s view that the virus likely spread through an accident at a Chinese lab. Four other agencies and a national intelligence body remain of the opinion that the virus was likely transmitted naturally, with two others undecided.
Only “low certainty”
According to people who read the classified report, the Department of Energy issued its verdict with “low certainty.” The FBI previously concluded with “moderate certainty” that the pandemic likely stemmed from a leak at a lab in 2019, and maintains that assessment.
No definitive answer
Jake Sullivan, US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, said Sunday that he could neither confirm nor deny the report. “At the moment there is no definitive answer from the secret services to this question,” said Sullivan, referring to the origin of the virus.
