China's role in Covid finally recognised by US as officials confirm lab leak theory

US officials have confirmed they now believe that the Covid pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory leak.

The study – on behalf of the US energy department - is considered authoritative as it manages a network of 17 laboratories which carry out research in advanced biology.

The FBI has also blamed the pandemic on a leak from a Chinese laboratory.

Many US agencies have various conclusions on where the virus emerged from
Tingshu Wang

Speculation began to grow that Covid had escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China which had been collecting and manipulating bat viruses.

Four other agencies in the US still believe the pandemic was caused by natural transmission while two others are undecided.

National security adviser, Jake Sullivan said there were a variety of views held by the US intelligence community on the origins of the pandemic.

“Some elements of the intelligence community have reached conclusions on one side, some on the other, and a number have said they just don’t have enough information to be sure,” he told CNN.

He added that the Biden administration had “directed repeatedly every element of our intelligence community to put effort and resources on getting to the bottom of this question".

He added: “Right now there is not a definitive answer to emerge from the intelligence community.”

The energy department has concluded their study with “low confidence”.

But said that suggestions Covid was part of a Chinese biological weapons programme were unjustified.

An investigation into the origins of Covid by the WHO were suspended in February
Peter Byrne

In comparison, the FBI said it had “moderate confidence” that an accidental leak from a Chinese laboratory caused the pandemic.

Other theories include Covid originating from wet-food markets in Wuhan where animals could have passed the virus onto humans.

In February, it emerged that an investigation into the origins of the pandemic by the World Health Organisation had been suspended.

An inquiry by the WHO concluded that Covid had surfaced from an animal spillover event but it was later reported that investigators had been forced to report a lab leak was unlikely to avoid arguments with China.