The US Department of Energy concluded that the cause of the Covid-19 pandemic was most likely a leak from a Chinese laboratory. The Wall Street Journal writes about this, citing a secret intelligence report provided to the White House and some members of Congress.
According to the newspaper, previously only the FBI adhered to the version associated with a laboratory leak, and the Department of Energy was inclined to think that the virus appeared naturally due to contact with infected animals. The agency's change of position is important because it controls a network of national laboratories in the United States, some of which conduct advanced biological research.
It is noted that the Department of Energy issued a judgment about the laboratory leak with "low confidence", while the FBI adheres to this version with "medium confidence". As of today, four other intelligence agencies adhere to the version of the natural origin of Covid-19, two more, including the CIA, have not decided.
In October 2021, US intelligence published a report on the results of an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus. As follows from the document, the intelligence community has abandoned the version that China was developing the virus as a biological weapon. According to an intelligence report, Covid-19 first spread in the Chinese city of Wuhan no later than November 2019.
In China, they categorically reject the version of a laboratory leak. The country's authorities refused to cooperate with the WHO, which is why the organization had to suspend its own investigation into the origin of the virus.