The US Department of Energy now believes a laboratory accident in China is likely to be the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new findings revealed by media outlets on Sunday, but which underscore ongoing disagreements between safety agencies.
New information has tipped the department’s analysis to the side of the leak hypothesis, according to unnamed sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and CNN.
But the newspapers insist this new analysis is being released “with a low level of confidence” by the ministry that oversees the biology labs.
The ministry joins the FBI, according to the business newspaper, and estimates that the pandemic that broke out in early 2020, killing nearly 7 million people and shaking the course of the world for months, is the result of a malicious manipulation within a year Chinese laboratory.
Four other US intelligence agencies believe COVID arose through natural transmission and two remain undecided, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“At this point, no definitive intelligence response has emerged on this matter,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday.
In mid-February, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) vowed to do whatever it takes to get “an answer” on the origins of COVID-19, and firmly denied reports that the organization had dropped its investigation.
Science believes it is crucial to know the origins of this pandemic in order to better fight or even avoid the next one.