Declassified US intelligence report on COVID-19's origins says both natural transmission and lab leak theories remain 'plausible'
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A declassified US intelligence report on COVID-19's origins found that both natural transmission and lab leak theories remain "plausible."
The report, released by the Director of National Intelligence on Friday, details the findings from an investigation into COVID-19's origins ordered by President Joe Biden earlier this year.
"All agencies assess that two hypotheses are plausible: natural exposure to an infected animal and a laboratory-associated incident," the report said.
The report said that the intelligence community lacks samples and complete epidemiological data from early COVID-19 cases that could help them further evaluate their hypotheses.
For now, the report said, they will be unable to determine a true origin for the virus unless "new information allows them to determine the specific pathway for initial natural contact with an animal or to determine that a laboratory in Wuhan was handling SARS-CoV-2 or a close progenitor virus before COVID-19 emerged."
China would need to be more transparent about its data, the report says.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/2ZCzS6E
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