New Delhi: FBI Director Christopher Wray mentioned on Tuesday the company has assessed {that a} leak from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, likely caused the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The FBI has for fairly a while now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a possible lab incident in Wuhan,” Wray advised Fox News.
His feedback observe a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department has assessed with low confidence the pandemic resulted from an unintended lab leak in China.
Four different companies, together with a nationwide intelligence panel, nonetheless choose that the pandemic was likely the results of a pure transmission, and two are undecided, the Journal reported.
White House nationwide safety spokesman John Kirby mentioned on Monday the U.S. authorities has not reached a definitive conclusion and consensus on the pandemic’s origins.
China’s overseas ministry, requested to touch upon the Wall Street Journal report, which was confirmed by different U.S. media, referred to a WHO-China report that pointed towards a pure origin for the pandemic, reasonably than a lab leak.
Wray mentioned he could not share many particulars of the company’s evaluation as a result of they have been categorised.
He accused the Chinese authorities of “doing its finest to attempt to thwart and obfuscate” efforts by the United States and others to be taught extra concerning the pandemic’s origins.