Coronavirus Was Not Designed As A Biological Weapon, US Investigation Says

U.S. intelligence agencies have ruled out that the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the coronavirus pandemic, was designed as a biological weapon, according to a summary of a report released on Friday.

“We believe that the virus was not developed as a biological weapon”, specify the agencies, which also rule out that the virus is the result of genetic manipulation, as conservative sectors of the United States had argued without evidence.

The survey, however, did not lead to a definitive conclusion about the cause of the virus and shows that US intelligence is still divided between two hypotheses: that the virus has passed from animal to human or that it is the product of an accident in the laboratory.

Specifically, four US intelligence agencies believe the virus is of animal origin, although they have “low confidence” in the idea.

Meanwhile, another agency concludes with “moderate confidence” that the first contagion was the result of an accident at the Institute of Virology in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the disease was first detected.

Criticism of China

The research notes that more information on the early days of the pandemic would be needed to provide “a more definitive explanation for the origin of COVID-19” and noted that the international scientific community “lacks” clinical samples or d ‘a “complete understanding of the epidemiological data” of the first cases of the disease.

In this context, criticized China’s reluctance to collaborate and noted that their “cooperation” is necessary to “arrive at a conclusive assessment” on the origin of the virus. “Beijing, however, continues to hamper the global investigation, is reluctant to share information and blames other countries, including the United States,” the document said.

In any case, despite criticism from Beijing, Washington says Chinese authorities “had no prior knowledge of the virus before the initial epidemic”, as members of the Republican Party claimed without providing evidence.

Former US President Donald Trump insisted for months that the virus came from a laboratory in Wuhan, sparking high tensions with China, which in turn accused Washington of being the source of the pandemic .

Trump’s successor Joe Biden decided to give intelligence agencies a report on the origins of the virus in May, after discovering that several researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell ill in November 2019 and had to be hospitalized.

Joe Biden pressured in Beijing

Biden received the report earlier this week. The full document is still filed and only published a summary on Friday.

The White House chief assured that Washington’s “efforts” to understand the origins of the pandemic “will not stop”.

“We will do everything possible to trace the roots of this pandemic which has caused so much pain and death in the world, so that we can take all the necessary precautions to prevent it from happening again,” he added. in a statement released after the report. has been freed. .

In the text, the President of the United States attacks China, noting that, “from the beginning”, his government “has sought to prevent international researchers and members of the global public health community” from accessing “critical” information about the origins of the pandemic.

Thus, he regretted that the Asian country continues to “reject calls for transparency and withholding of information, even when the number of victims continues to increase”.

“We will continue to pressure China to adhere to scientific norms and standards, including the exchange of information and data since the early days of the pandemic,” he said.

Source: DPA and EFE

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