Covid-19: US House votes to declassify intelligence on virus origins
- Lawmakers say Americans have questions about how the deadly coronavirus pandemic began and what can be done to prevent future outbreaks
- US intelligence agencies are divided over whether a lab leak in China or a spillover from animals is the likely source of the disease
The House voted unanimously on Friday to declassify US intelligence information about the origins of Covid-19, a sweeping show of bipartisan support near the third anniversary of the start of the deadly pandemic.
The 419-0 vote was final approval of the bill, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
Debate was brief and to the point: Americans have questions about how the deadly virus started and what can be done to prevent future outbreaks.
“The American public deserves answers to every aspect of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Republican congressman Michael Turner, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
That includes, he said, “how this virus was created and, specifically, whether it was a natural occurrence or was the result of a lab-related event”.
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Beijing rejects US agency report saying Covid-19 likely emerged from Chinese lab leak
The order to declassify focused on intelligence related to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, citing “potential links” between the research that was done there and the outbreak of Covid-19, which the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020.