A report by the US Intelligence Agency has been released that suggests that COVID-19's source may never have been discovered.
According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's (ODNI), the virus was most likely transmitted from a laboratory outbreak or infected animal.
China called the report "completely political farce".
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The US intelligence agencies claim that it is possible that the true source of the COVID-19 pandemic might never be discovered.
In a declassified report released on October 29th, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) stated two possible causes of the virus, a laboratory-associated incident or an animal infection that spread to humans.
The "Updated Assessment COVID-19 Origins" report was titled. It gathered analysis from US Intelligence Community (a coalition of 18 agencies, organizations, and the ODNI).
It was ruled out that this virus was being used as a secret biological weapon and stated that it was unlikely that the virus had been genetically engineered.
Infographic from the ODNI Report on COVID-19 ODNI
The theory that coronvirus was created to cause harm "does not have direct access" to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. A report also noted that "proponents of disinformation" are among those who were criticized.
It concluded, however, that without additional data and information, it was unlikely that the virus's source could ever be established.
According to the report, four agencies believed that COVID-19 was transmitted from infected animals. One agency had moderate confidence that the pandemic began because of a laboratory error.
This report was issued in response to the Biden administration's request for an investigation into whether the theory of a Wuhan lab leak being the cause of the pandemic is true.
China responded to Reuters' findings in an email, stating that intelligence agency investigations into China's involvement with the virus release were a "completely political farce."
It stated that it had been supporting science-based efforts in origins tracing and would continue to be actively involved.
The report found that China had been responsible for obstructing the investigation. This limited the access of the WHO investigation team to certain sites, as an example.
