Covid Likely Originated From Lab Leak, Energy Department Reportedly Finds—But Biden Aide Says There’s No ‘Definitive Answer’

Topline

The U.S. Energy Department has concluded that the Covid-19 pandemic was most likely caused by a laboratory leak, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, though National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said there is “not a definitive answer.” on the virus’ genesis.

An aerial view shows the P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in China’s … [+] central Hubei province on April 17, 2020.

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

The Energy Department’s new conclusions are found in an updated classified report from the office of Avril Haines, the Director of National Intelligence, which was recently provided to the White House and some members of Congress, according to the Journal.

The Energy Department, which oversees many U.S. laboratories, came to its conclusion based on new intelligence, but deemed its level of confidence in its judgment as “low,” people who read the report told the Journal.

The FBI also determined in 2021 with “moderate confidence” the virus came from a lab leak, but the agency came to its conclusion for different reasons than the Energy Department, U.S. officials told the Journal.

Other federal agencies disagree: Four agencies have reportedly determined with “low confidence” the virus was transmitted naturally through animals, and two others, including the CIA, remain undecided between the two origin theories.

The Energy Department told Forbes it “continues to support the thorough, careful, and objective work of our intelligence professionals in investigating the origins of COVID-19, as the President directed,” but would not comment on specifics to the Journal.

Crucial Quote

“Some elements of the intelligence community have reached conclusions on one side, some on the other, a number of them have said they just don’t have enough information to be sure…President Biden has directed, repeatedly, every element of our intelligence community to put effort and resources behind getting to the bottom of this question,” Sullivan said on CNN on Sunday when asked about the Journal’s reporting. “But right now, there is not a definitive answer that has emerged from the intelligence community on this question.”

Tangent

The Department of Energy’s report reaffirmed the belief that the Covid-19 pandemic was not caused by a Chinese biological weapons program, people with knowledge of the report’s contents told the Journal.

Key Background

The origins of the Covid-19 that sparked a years-long pandemic and killed over 6.7 million people worldwide has been a contentious area of focus since the virus began spreading. It’s widely understood that Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, originated in Wuhan, China, where the first outbreak occurred, but the virus’ exact origins are less certain. Many experts believe the virus most likely jumped from animals to humans naturally, but a handful think the possibility of a lab accident—while lacking in direct evidence—deserves more scrutiny, and former White House medical advisor Anthony Fauci has said he has an “open mind” about the virus’ origins. Several theories have focused on research that was being conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It’s also believed that the virus may have spread to humans from animals like bats, raccoons or pangolins, or it was transmitted from one animal species to another before reaching humans. This natural transmission could have occurred at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which many of the first cases were linked to.

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