The US Department of Energy says, the Covid pandemic probably came from a Chinese laboratory, according to state media. While according to the White House, American intelligence remained divided on the issue.
The determination noted in a classified report by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines’s office, The Wall Street Journal reported — marks a shift by the Energy department, which had previously said it was undecided on how the virus emerged.
The classified readers were cited in the Journal and The New York Times, saying the department made its judgment with “low confidence,” stressing how different agencies remain divided over the origins of Covid-19 and the pandemic that swept the globe in early 2020.
The decision, reportedly the result of new intelligence, is nevertheless significant because the department oversees a network of national laboratories, including some that do advanced biological research.
The department now joins the Federal Bureau of Investigation in believing that the pandemic, which has left nearly seven million people dead, was the result of a mishap in a Chinese laboratory.
Four US intelligence agencies believe Covid occurred through natural transmission, while two others remain undecided, the Journal reported.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stressed a “variety of views” on the matter remain.
Right now, there is not a definitive answer that has emerged from the intelligence community on this question.”
Jake Sullivan-told CNN Sunday.
A laboratory leak wasn’t found to be possible by authoritative scientific conclusions drawn by joint experts from China and the WHO.”
Mao Ning-foreign ministry spokesperson
In February, the World Health Organization vowed to do everything possible “until we get the answer” on Covid’s origins, renouncing a report suggesting the agency had quit its investigation.
