CIA Shifts View on Covid-19 Cause to Lab Leak ‘More Likely’
- Ratcliffe declassified the new assessment made weeks earlier
- Other US agencies cite natural causes as the likely origin
The Central Intelligence Agency said that the Covid-19 pandemic likely originated from a lab in Wuhan, China.
Photographer: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images
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The Central Intelligence Agency said the Covid-19 pandemic “more likely” originated from a lab leak than a natural source, shifting its stance after previously saying both scenarios were possible.
The CIA’s new view aligns the agency with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Energy, which say the pandemic that caused more than 7 million deaths worldwide, likely originated from a lab in Wuhan, China. Other US agencies have assessed that the initial infection was most likely caused by natural exposure to an animal.