NEW YORK: The Central Intelligence Agency has assessed that the COVID-19 pandemic is “more likely” to have emerged from a lab rather than from nature, an agency spokesperson said on Saturday. For years, the agency had said it could not conclude whether COVID-19 resulted from a lab incident or originated in nature. However, in the final weeks of the Biden administration, former CIA Director William Burns asked CIA analysts and scientists to make a clear determination, stressing the pandemic’s historical significance, according to a senior U.S. official.
The CIA says it has “low confidence” in its assessment that a “research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely.” However, it notes in its statement that both scenarios—lab origin and natural origin—remain plausible.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The extent to which the agency has collected new intelligence on COVID-19’s origins was unclear and whether that new evidence was used to formulate the latest assessment.
China’s government says it supports and has participated in research to determine COVID-19’s origin. It has accused Washington of politicizing the matter, especially because of efforts by U.S. intelligence agencies to investigate.
Beijing has said claims that a laboratory leak likely caused the pandemic have no credibility. —Reuters
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