US report on Covid-19 origin vindicates support of lab-leak theory, Republicans say

A report by the US Department of Energy which concluded with “low confidence” that Covid-19 likely originated from a lab leak in China has prompted many Republicans to claim vindication for their previous support of the theory – even though many scientists maintain that the evidence is stronger that the coronavirus had natural origins.

In a classified report whose contents were first disclosed over the weekend, the department reportedly suggested that a lab accident could have led to the spread of the deadly virus that has killed more than six million people around the world.

Covid-19 was first reported in the central China hub city of Wuhan in late 2019. The city is also home to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products.

In the US intelligence community, “low confidence” means that the analysts were unsure of the credibility of the available information from which a solid judgment could be drawn.

So far, only the US Federal Bureau of Investigation has backed the lab leak hypothesis with what the agency described as “moderate confidence”. Four other federal agencies, including the National Intelligence Council, have concluded with “low confidence” that the virus was transmitted naturally to humans through an animal host.

In 2021, an intelligence review ordered by the White House noted that the intelligence community was unable to determine the origins of the virus.