WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he has asked the US Intelligence Community to redouble efforts in investigating the origins of the COVID-19 disease and expects to receive information within 90 days.
The US Intelligence Community is expected to reach out to China with specific questions about the origins of COVID-19
Biden said the US Intelligence Community has determined there is insufficient information to assess whether COVID-19 came from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory leak.
“I had my National Security Advisor task the Intelligence Community to prepare a report on their most up-to-date analysis of the origins of COVID-19, including whether it emerged from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory accident,” Biden said in a press release on Wednesday.
In addition, Biden said, the United States will continue to work with the international community to press China to participate in a full and transparent investigation.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing intelligence data, that three lab employees in Wuhan, China, became sick in November 2019 with symptoms similar to COVID-19, which, according to the newspaper, should support the hypothesis that the virus could have originated in China.
The first COVID-19 case was reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, located in eastern Chinese province of Hubei. Former US President Donald Trump blamed the outbreak on China and suspected it originated in a virology lab in Wuhan.
