COVID-19 most likely originated in a laboratory and spread as a result of a leak, claim American lawmakers in a new report based on a two-year investigation.
The document was prepared by the Coronavirus Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. According to the report, the virus likely emerged from a lab in Wuhan, where SARS viruses were being studied. The authors presented five arguments to support their conclusion:
Unusual biological characteristics. The virus displays features not previously observed in nature.
Single introduction. All COVID-19 cases stem from a single introduction of the virus to humans, unlike previous pandemics, which typically involved multiple points of origin.
Insufficient biosafety standards. The research lab in Wuhan is reported to have inadequate levels of biological safety.
Illness among lab staff. Researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology allegedly fell ill with a COVID-like virus in the fall of 2019, months before the first cases were reported at a wildlife market.
Lack of evidence for natural origin. Lawmakers argue that if the virus had a natural origin, such evidence would already have been discovered.
The U.S. Department of Energy previously suggested the possibility of a lab origin, while a government national laboratory and the FBI have called this theory plausible. However, the U.S. intelligence community remains divided, with four agencies supporting the natural origin theory, The Wall Street Journal notes.
The World Health Organization (WHO), meanwhile, considers a natural origin the most likely explanation for the virus. As of February 2023, there is no consensus within the U.S. government: White House representative John Kirby stated that the origins of COVID-19 remain unresolved.
