Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee say there is “significant circumstantial evidence” that the coronavirus originated from a leak at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, and that the US government “may have funded or collaborated” in the research that led to it, Report informs referring to the New York Post.
“International efforts to discover the true source of the virus, however, have been stymied by a lack of cooperation from the People’s Republic of China,” they wrote in the report.
“Nevertheless, significant circumstantial evidence raises serious concerns that the COVID-19 outbreak may have been a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
They said China has a “history of research labs leaks resulting in infections,” citing warnings from US diplomats in China as early as 2017.
The report went on to say that the lab in Wuhan had been conducting “dangerous research” on coronaviruses without following “necessary safety protocols,” which risked an accidental outbreak.
The GOP lawmakers noted in the report that “several researchers in the Wuhan lab were sickened with COVID-19-like symptoms” in the fall of 2019.
It also said the Chinese military had “involvement” in the lab.