Intel report on coronavirus finds no direct evidence of leak from lab

The U.S. Director of National Intelligence released an unclassified report late Friday on potential links between the novel coronavirus disease and key laboratories in central China. Chinaas required by law, but the mystery of whether the virus escaped from the lab or escaped from animals to humans remains unsolved.

The report said U.S. government agencies remain divided on the origin of the virus, with both a natural origin and a lab-related origin from the Wuhan Institute of Virology “remaining as possible hypotheses.” ing.

Secretary Avril Haynes was required to file a report under the COVID-19 Origins Act, which passed Congress and was signed by President Biden in March.

---

---

But the 10-page report offers no conclusive evidence linking the virus to a US lab. Wuhan — The Chinese city where the pandemic began at the end of 2019.

it admits it Wuhan Scientists have studied and fine-tuned the virus in the lab, but have found no direct link to SARS-CoV-2, the official name of the virus that causes the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). yeah.

“We assess that some WIV scientists have genetically engineered the coronavirus using common laboratory techniques,” the report states. ” [intelligence community] However, there is no information in WIV genetic engineering studies to indicate that SARS-CoV-2, a closely related ancestral or backbone virus that caused the pandemic, was involved. ”

The report said Wuhan Although the lab probably had safety issues “at least for some time prior to the pandemic,” “we are not aware of the specific biosafety incident at WIV that caused the pandemic. WIV biosafety training is urgent.” It seems that it is being done on a daily basis, not as a response.” Chinaleadership. ”

The report said it investigated reports of a lab worker falling ill at the end of 2019, an incident often seen as a close link between the lab and the discovery of the virus in the United States. Wuhan.

“Some of their symptoms were consistent with COVID-19 but were not diagnostic,” the report said. “The IC believes that the researchers’ symptoms could have been caused by a number of illnesses and that some of the symptoms are not consistent with COVID-19, so this information refutes or supports any hypothesis regarding the origin of the pandemic.” We continue to evaluate that we haven’t.”

A series of Capitol reports and congressional testimony have given credence to the lab leak, once dismissed as an online conspiracy.

House Republicans, who have pushed for the DNI report, said the document contained enough information to suggest it was a viable possibility.

“The Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army seriously need an explanation,” said Mike Turner, chairman of the House Standing Select Committee on Intelligence, and Brad Wenstrup, chairman of the Special Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. “This declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the intelligence community lends credence to the ‘lab leak’ theory that suggests a coronavirus outbreak is most likely. Wuhan virology laboratory China”

For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 Resources page.