U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a deeper intelligence investigation into the origins of COVID-19, giving new life to claims that the coronavirus escaped a Chinese lab.
After more than a year hunting for the pandemic¡¯s mysterious origins before the first cluster was found at a Wuhan food market, it¡¯s unclear what new resources American spies may bring to the search. Biden¡¯s order also reopens a rift with Beijing, which has impeded previous international investigations and punished foreign governments for suggesting it has something to hide.
In a surprise statement, Biden announced that the U.S. intelligence community had delivered a report to him earlier this month on the virus¡¯s origins. The document acknowledged divisions over whether the virus was naturally transmitted from animals to humans ¡ª the prevailing theory of scientists ¡ª or whether it leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a claim popular with Republicans that hasn¡¯t been ruled out by experts.
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