The director of national intelligence on Tuesday delivered a report to President Joe Biden on the origins of the coronavirus epidemic, according to U.S. officials, but the nation’s spy agencies have not yet concluded whether the disease was the result of an accidental leak from a lab or if it emerged naturally in a spillover from animals to humans.
Biden had ordered the nation’s intelligence agencies three months ago to draft a report on the origins of the virus amid an intensifying debate over questions about its provenance, and in part to give the agencies a chance to examine a trove of data that had not been fully exploited.
But the inquiry, which examined data collected from a virology research institute in Wuhan, China, the city where the virus first spread, has yet to answer the biggest outstanding question about where it came from. Its absence of conclusions underscores the difficulty of pinpointing the source of the virus, particularly given China’s refusal to continue to cooperate with international investigations into the origin of COVID-19.
During the Trump administration, intelligence agencies ruled out theories that the virus was created deliberately. But they said they could not make a conclusion about what was more likely: a leak from a lab researching coronaviruses or a natural development of the virus.
The report remains classified for now, and officials would not discuss its findings. But officials said that Haines’ office will likely declassify some information later this week.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
China peddles conspiracy theories blaming the U.S.
China is peddling groundless theories that the United States may be the true source of the coronavirus, as it pushes back against efforts to investigate the pandemic’s origins in China. The disinformation campaign started last year, but Beijing has raised the volume in recent weeks, reflecting its anxiety about being blamed for the pandemic that has killed millions globally.
These theories, promoted by officials, academics, central propaganda outlets and on social media, have gained wider currency in China. They risk further muddying inquiries into the source of the virus and aggravating already frayed relations between the world’s top two powers.
c.2021 The New York Times
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