Both Lab Leak, Natural Exposure To Infected Animal Plausible Hypotheses For Origin Of COVID-19: US Spy Agencies

The United States intelligence agencies on Friday (29 October) said that they will be unable to provide a more definitive explanation for the origin of COVID-19 unless they get new information and also hit out at China for hindering the investigation into Covid-19 origin.

The office of the US Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) revealed in a declassified report that a lab leak along with a natural origin are both ‘plausible hypothesis’ of how SARS CoV-2 first infected humans.

"After examining all available intelligence reporting and other information, though, the IC remains divided on the most likely origin of COVID-19. All agencies assess that two hypotheses are plausible: natural exposure to an infected animal and a laboratory-associated incident," the ODNI report said.

The report also dismissed suggestions that that coronavirus originated as a bioweapon. It claimed that the proponents of this theory do not have direct access to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and have been accused of ‘spreading disinformation’, reports Times of India.

It said that the intelligence community will be "unable to provide a more definitive explanation for the origin of COVID-19 unless new information allows them to determine the specific pathway for initial natural contact with an animal or to determine that a laboratory in Wuhan was handling SARS-CoV-2 or a close progenitor virus before COVID-19 emerged".

The report also criticised China for hindering the investigation in the origins of the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

"China’s cooperation most likely would be needed to reach a conclusive assessment of the origins of COVID-19. Beijing, however, continues to hinder the global investigation, resist sharing information, and blame other countries, including the United States," the report said.

"These actions reflect, in part, China’s government’s own uncertainty about where an investigation could lead as well as its frustration the international community is using the issue to exert political pressure on China," it added.