US intends to find out COVID origin

President Biden ordered US intelligence agencies to investigate the origins of the coronavirus, indicating that his administration takes seriously the possibility that the deadly virus was accidentally leaked from a lab, in addition to the prevailing theory that it was transmitted by an animal to humans outside a lab, Report informs referring to The New York Times.

In a statement, Biden made it clear that the CIA and other intelligence agencies had not yet reached a consensus on how the virus, which prompted a pandemic and has killed almost 600,000 Americans, originated in China. He directed them to report back to him in 90 days.

“I have now asked the intelligence community to redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion,” the president said.

On May 26, Zhao Lijian, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, sidestepped a question about whether the WHO would be permitted to do further investigation in China, saying that an “authoritative study report” with “many significant conclusions” had already been issued.

Instead, Zhao sought to deflect attention from China, pointing to what he called the reports of Covid-19 being detected as early as 2019 in other parts of the world. He also referred again to the baseless theory that the virus came from a United States Army lab.

“China takes the origin-tracing work seriously with a responsible attitude, and has made positive contributions that are widely recognized,” Zhao said. “If the US side truly demands a completely transparent investigation, it should follow China’s lead to invite the WHO experts to the US.”