International-News

CIA revises its position on the origin of Covid-19: ‘Probable escape from a laboratory in China’

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said today that it is ‘likely’ that the Covid-19 pandemic originated from a laboratory leak in China, although the agency maintains ‘low confidence’ in its assessment. This revision marks a change from previous assessments, which considered both a natural and a research-related origin equally plausible.

In an official note, a CIA spokesperson said: ‘Based on available reports, the CIA assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the Covid-19 pandemic is more likely than a natural origin. However, the agency reiterated the need for further investigation, stressing that both scenarios remain plausible pending new information.

Speculation on the origin of the pandemic continues to divide the international community and US intelligence agencies. Already in the past, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Energy had considered a laboratory leak likely as the cause of the initial spread of the virus, while other agencies maintain less defined positions.

The epicentre of the pandemic, according to global health authorities, remains the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus was first identified. Since the beginning of the health emergency, the laboratory leak hypothesis has been the subject of debate, finding political support in the United States, particularly from Donald Trump.

The president, who has just returned to the White House, reiterated his historic position, referring to Covid-19 as the ‘China virus’. During his first term in office, in 2020, these statements provoked a reaction from China, which strongly rejected the accusations, calling on the US to ‘end the unfounded accusations against China’.

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