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Senior officials in the administration of US President Joe Biden who oversee the intelligence review of the origins of the Corona virus have revealed that the theory that the virus accidentally leaked from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan is also credible. that it was able to appear naturally in the wild – a change that CNN has called drastic. , where a year ago, Democrats publicly downplayed the so-called lab leak theory.
More than halfway through President Biden’s renewed 90-day quest to find answers to the origins of the virus, the intelligence community is still deeply divided over whether the virus escaped from a Wuhan laboratory where naturally passed from animals to humans in the wild. sources familiar with surveys.
These people said little new evidence has emerged to move the compass in one direction or another. But the fact that the laboratory leak theory is being seriously considered by senior Biden officials is remarkable, and comes amid growing openness to the idea even though most of the coronavirus scientists who have investigated them Origins of the pandemic say the evidence also supports the idea of a natural origin of the virus.
The sources said current intelligence information so far reinforces the belief that the virus most likely originated naturally, from human-animal contact, and was not deliberately designed. But that doesn’t rule out the possibility that the virus was the result of an accidental leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where coronavirus research has been conducted on bats – although many scientists familiar with it. research points out that such a leak is unlikely.
Wuhan Laboratory (Reuters)
WHO urges China to cooperate
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday it was “too early” to rule out the possibility that a laboratory leak had led to the outbreak and urged China to provide “information first hand on the state of these laboratories before and at the onset of the pandemic. “
For their part, the scientists, who found strong genetic evidence that the virus came from an animal, said they also wanted to access what China knows about the beginnings of the epidemic, explaining that they cannot prove this. hypothesis without having access to early samples.
As the review progressed, the White House also began issuing public threats. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned Beijing last month of the potential consequences, telling Fox News that China would face “international isolation” if it does not cooperate with the investigations. “If it turns out that China is refusing to fulfill its international obligations, we will have to consider our responses at this point,” he told CNN on the same day.
A source familiar with the ongoing review said several senior administration officials, including Sullivan, considered the accidental lab leak theory as plausible as the theory of the virus’s natural origins. The source said intelligence agencies that were skeptical of the lab leak theory a year ago, such as the CIA, now see it as a credible approach.
While many officials have their own personal views on the possible origin of the pandemic, with some finding the laboratory leak theory more credible as they continue to receive and interpret information, people familiar with the investigation. stated that there was no opinion that dictated the pace or direction of a comprehensive review.
Politicians have sought to give the intelligence community and national labs wide latitude to complete the exam without dictating the results in advance.
US officials say CIA Director Bill Burns, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and other senior intelligence officials receive regular updates on the investigation.
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