A view of the P4 lab inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology is seen after a visit by the World Health Organization team in Wuhan in China's
The CIA now states that the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from a laboratory, as per an assessment released on Saturday (local time) that implicates China while acknowledging the agency’s “low confidence” in the conclusion.

This discovery is not based on new intelligence, and the report was carried out at the request of the Biden administration and former CIA Director William Burns.

It was declassified and made public on Saturday under the direction of President Donald Trump’s selection to lead the agency, John Ratcliffe, who officially assumed the role of director on Thursday.

A view of the P4 lab inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology is seen after a visit by the World Health Organization team in Wuhan in China's
A view of the P4 lab inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology is seen after a visit by the World Health Organization team in Wuhan in China’s Hubei province.(AP)

Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, expressed satisfaction on Saturday with the CIA’s determination in the final days of the Biden administration that the lab-leak theory is the most likely explanation. He also praised Ratcliffe for declassifying the assessment.

“Now, the most important thing is to make China pay for unleashing a plague on the world,” Cotton said in a statement.

China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Chinese authorities have in the past dismissed speculation about COVID’s origins as unhelpful and motivated by politics.

While the origin of the virus remains unknown, scientists think the most likely hypothesis is that it circulated in bats, like many coronaviruses, before infecting another species, probably racoon dogs, civet cats or bamboo rats. In turn, the infection spread to humans handling or butchering those animals at a market in Wuhan, where the first human cases appeared in late November 2019.

Some official investigations, however, have raised the the question of whether the virus escaped from a lab in Wuhan. Two years ago a report by the Energy Department concluded a lab leak was the most likely origin, though that report also expressed low confidence in the finding.

The same year then-FBI Director Christopher Wray said his agency believed the virus “most likely” spread after escaping from a lab.

Ratcliffe, who served as director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, has said he favours the lab leak scenario, too.

“The lab leak is the only theory supported by science, intelligence, and common sense,” Ratcliffe said in 2023.

The CIA said it would continue to evaluate any new information that could change its assessment.

You May Also Like
Two couples are understood to have been riding on a rented four-seater pedal powered quad bike along Puruatanga Road in Martinborough Thursday morning when it was rammed by a car from behind

Tragic Accident in New Zealand: British Tourist Killed and Three Others Injured in Quad Cycle Collision

A Brit has died and three are seriously injured following a horror…
Canada's 6633 Arctic Ultra: Aaron Cook has pushed his body to extreme limits and is no stranger to endurance races.

“Aaron: Conquering the World’s Toughest Footrace by Dragging a Sled 620km in -50 Degrees”

The 6633 Arctic Ultra in Canada is known as the toughest, windiest,…
Police execute search warrant at one Sydney nurse's home

Police carry out search warrant at residence of a nurse in Sydney

Police have searched the home of one of the two Sydney nurses…
Ofir Birenbaum, wearing a white cap with the Star of David and video-equipped glasses, can be seen on CCTV from the cafe.

The Daily Telegraph’s secret operation at a Sydney cafe is stirring controversy

The news organization, the Daily Telegraph, acknowledged that an undercover operation carried…
National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy told reporters that the recording from the Black Hawk helicopter cockpit suggested an incomplete radio transmission may have left the crew without understanding how it should shift position just before the January 29 crash, in which all 67 aboard the two aircraft were killed.

Investigators suggest that the helicopter in the DC crash may have missed an important instruction.

An Army helicopter and an American Airlines jet collided in midair near…
A video (pictured) posted on Fallow Restaurant in London's TikTok page showed a top tip for creating the perfect poached egg

Top chef shares the secret for perfect poached eggs by adding a single ingredient to water

For many people it’s the epitome of the ultimate brunch – a…