US Intelligence detects: Is coronavirus made in the lab?

US Intelligence detects: Is coronavirus made in the lab?

According to the Office of the Director of U.S. National Intelligence, the intelligence community ‘will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan,’ France Press said.

Lately, the unproven theory has been mentioned that the infectious disease laboratory in Wuhan is the source of a global pandemic that has killed more than 220.000 people worldwide. The idea that the virus was man-made has circulated since the epidemic erupted in China.

No evidence has been offered to support the theory, and scientists say there is no indication in the virus’s genetic makeup that it was manipulated in a laboratory.

The new statement says, "The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified."

Scientists say the virus arose naturally in bats. Even so, Pompeo and others have pointed fingers at the Institute that is run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It has done groundbreaking research tracing the likely origins of the SARS virus, finding new bat viruses and discovering how it could jump to people, AP reports.

The Chinese government said Thursday that any claims that the coronavirus was released from a laboratory are “unfounded and purely fabricated out of nothing".

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang cited the institute's director, Yuan Zhiming, as saying the lab strictly implements bio-security procedures that would prevent the release of any pathogen.