WASHINGTON — The U.S. intelligence community remains divided on the origins of the coronavirus, according to a report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Friday.
Friday’s report found at least one U.S. intelligence agency believes the Covid-19 virus could have been produced during an accident in a Wuhan lab. One agency had “moderate confidence” that the virus spread between infected humans but others have “low confidence” that the virus emerged naturally, according to the newly declassified intelligence report.
U.S. Intelligence collectively agreed that Covid-19 spread after small-scale human exposure no later than November 2019. The report also came to the conclusion that the virus was not made as a biological weapon, and Chinese officials did not have knowledge of the virus before the outbreak.
“Most agencies also assess with low confidence that SARS-CoV-2 [Covid] probably was not genetically engineered,” says the report, “however, two agencies believe there was not sufficient evidence to make an assessment either way.”
President Joe Biden requested the report and asked U.S. spy agencies to spend 90 days reviewing the origins of how the virus began. The report was returned to the President inconclusive and agencies said it is unlikely they will be able to get any more information without cooperation from China.
“China’s cooperation most likely would be needed to reach a conclusive assessment of the origins of COVID-19,” the report says.
Biden released a statement on the findings, saying he will continue to fight for answers for the virus’ origins.
“Our efforts to understand the origins of this pandemic will not rest. We must have a full and transparent accounting of this global tragedy. Nothing less is acceptable,” Biden said.
“The world deserves answers, and I will not rest until we get them,” he added. “Responsible nations do not shirk these kinds of responsibilities to the rest of the world.”
