Covid was NOT developed as a bio weapon, US intelligence says in report as experts are split on lab leak theory
THE US intelligence community released an “inconclusive” report, claiming it still doesn’t know if Covid-19 originated in a Chinese lab.
But the agencies did conclude that the virus was "not developed as a biological weapon,” according to the unclassified report's summary released on Friday.
It suggests “the [intelligence community] remains divided on the most likely origin of Covid-19,” but that every agency hypothesizes that either there was natural exposure to an infected animal or there was a “laboratory-associated incident.”
'NOT A BIOWEAPON'
Specifically, four members of the US intelligence apparatus say they have low confidence that the virus was initially transmitted from an animal to a human.
A fifth intelligence agency only has moderate confidence that the first human infection was linked to a Chinese lab.
But most of the agencies who analyzed the origins of the Covid-19 virus were unconvinced it was developed as a bioweapon.
“We judge the virus was not developed as a biological weapon,” according to the .
They also suspect that it "probably was not genetically engineered."
CHINA MYSTERY
Factoring into the findings may be the lack of cooperation from China.
More evidence has been aimed that the worst pandemic to befall humankind since the 1912 Spanish Flu was leaked from Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) where , which are tests to make viruses more infectious, were reportedly being conducted.
The statement blamed China for continuing “to hinder the global investigation, resist sharing information and blame other countries, including the United States.”
“China’s cooperation most likely would be needed to reach a conclusive assessment of the origins of Covid-19,” it noted.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence didn’t specify which agencies supported any of the specific theories.
But it noted that some of the toughest limitations holding back its efforts was the fact that the World Health Organization and scientists around the globe are unable to procure clinical samples and data from the earliest Covid-19 cases.
“If we obtain information on the earliest cases that identified a location of interest or occupational exposure, it may alter our evaluation of hypotheses,” the statement noted.
BIDEN’S COVID PROBE
President Joe Biden pushed for a fact-finding mission to determine the root causes of the pandemic back in May.
On Friday, the White House confirmed that it would with China “including providing access to all relevant data and evidence.”
“The world deserves answers, and I will not rest until we get them,” Biden said in the statement.
“Responsible nations do not shirk these kinds of responsibilities to the rest of the world.
“Pandemics do not respect international borders, and we all must better understand how COVID-19 came to be in order to prevent further pandemics.”
STOP 'SCAPEGOATING CHINA’
China's foreign ministry shot back at the US investigation prior to the report's release.
"Scapegoating China cannot whitewash the U.S.," Fu Cong, director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' arms control department, said on Thursday, according to .
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The country has maintained that a Covid-19 leak out of its Wuhan lab which emerged in the city back in 2019 wasn’t the likely scenario.
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Rather, the rival superpower places blamed on the US for letting the virus escape from the US Army's Fort Detrick base in Maryland.
"It is only fair that if the U.S. insists that this is a valid hypothesis, they should do their turn and invite the investigation into their labs," Fu said.
