US President Joe Biden on Wednesday ordered the American Intelligence agencies to submit a report within the next three months on whether the Covid-19 virus first emerged in China from an animal source or from a laboratory accident.
The move from the US president came after several reports suggested that Covid-19 did not originate from a bat as reported by China but was instead made in a lab in Wuhan as a biochemical weapon.
In the wake of these reports, Joe Biden has asked his countries’ intelligence agencies to collect and analyse information within 90 days to reach closer to a definitive answer.
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Most agencies are currently split on the matter of the origin of the virus, as some admit that it indeed came through a bat, according to Biden. Moreover, the death figure collected by various institutions throughout the world suggests that the total deaths due to the virus have been 3.5 million, a figure that is also challenged by the experts who deem it as underestimated.
"Redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion, and to report back to me in 90 days," Biden said in a statement released by the White House.
The lab origin theory has been extensively used in America’s domestic politics. Republicans use reports that claim the virus is artificial, to attack China and its policies. They directly blame China for the pandemic.
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However, China denies all such reports and has said that the virus did originate through an infected bat. The answer to this contention can be monumental for both countries.
Biden said that in March he asked for a report on the origins of the virus, including "whether it emerged from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory accident.”
“As of today, the US intelligence community has 'coalesced around two likely scenarios' but has not reached a definitive conclusion on this question," he said.
