Covid, a new US report returns to the origin of the virus: "Probably born out of a lab escape"

A classified US Department of Energy report concludes the Covid pandemic most likely stemmed from a lab leak. The Wall Street Journal reports exclusively after reading the research.

The classified document containing the research results was made available to the White House and key members of the US Congress. The US Department of Energy is now changing its position with an amendment drafted by the office of Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to a previous 2021 law in which he declared indecisive about the origin of the virus.

We don’t have a “definitive answer” as to whether the Covid outbreak was caused by a lab leak. According to the National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, interviewed by CNN in the Wall Street Journal. “What I can tell you is that President Biden has repeatedly directed all elements of the intelligence community to reserve every effort and resource to get to the bottom of this matter,” Sullivan added.

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 Federal Bureau of Investigation in saying the virus likely spread because of an accident at a Chinese lab. Four other authorities, along with a national intelligence group, still believe it was likely the result of natural transmission, and two are undecided.

The Department of Energy’s finding is a result of new information and is significant because the agency has significant scientific expertise and oversees a network of US national laboratories, some of which conduct advanced biological research. The Department of Energy issued its verdict with “low confidence,” according to people who read the classified report. The FBI had already concluded with “moderate confidence” that the pandemic was likely the result of a lab leak in 2021, and stands by that position.