U.S. Declassifies COVID-19 Origins Report

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence finally released a government report on the origins of COVID-19 on Friday. The chairs of the House Intelligence and Coronavirus Pandemic committees say the report lends credence to the theory that the virus may have originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China.

Early this year, Congress enacted legislation requiring the declassification of evidence on possible links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) and the pandemic’s beginnings.

The declassified study outlines the Intelligence Community’s (IC) knowledge of the COVID-19 beginnings and offers insight into the WIV’s operations prior to the pandemic. It does not, however, conclusively identify the virus’s origin.

“All agencies continue to assess that both a natural and laboratory-associated origin remain plausible hypotheses to explain the first human infection,” the 10-page declassified report states (pdf).

The report includes assessments from the National Intelligence Council (NIC), the Department of Energy, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and other unnamed agencies.

Most organizations, including the NIC and four other Intelligence Community organizations, concur that the virus was likely spread naturally by contact with an infected animal or a close relative. The FBI and the Department of Energy, although having differing justifications, both believe that the virus first appeared in a lab.

The CIA and another agency are unable to determine the precise origin of COVID-19, as both hypotheses rely on significant assumptions or face challenges with conflicting reporting, the report states.

Some of the assessments in the report were previously known.

In order to determine if the original human infection resulted from contact with an infected animal spontaneously or if it was related to a laboratory occurrence, the IC broadened its investigation into COVID-19 in March. According to “almost all” of the agencies involved, the virus was neither genetically modified nor produced as a biological weapon, as stated in the study. Agencies dispute with the idea that the study was done in a lab, though.

Wuhan Experiments ‘Left No Traces of Genetic Modification’

Before the pandemic, the WIV engaged in collaboration with China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on “public health-related research.” Some of the WIV scientists conducted experiments on coronaviruses, but there is no evidence of genetic modification in these viruses, according to the report.

However, the report states that the WIV did not possess viruses that could “plausibly be the progenitor of SARS-CoV-2” before the pandemic. Instead, the viruses were primarily used for “virology and vaccine-related work.”

The WIV supported research initiatives between 2017 and 2019 and employed some of its staff in efforts to “enhance China’s knowledge of pathogens and early disease warning capabilities for defensive and biosecurity needs of the military.”

“The IC assesses that this work was intended for public health needs and that the coronaviruses known to be used were too distantly related to have led to the creation of SARS-CoV-2,” the report states.

Before the pandemic, the WIV carried out considerable research on coronaviruses, including genetic testing and animal collection, notably of bats.

The study confirms that genetic engineering work is being done at the WIV but claims that there is no “direct evidence that a specific research-related incident occurred involving WIV personnel before the pandemic that could have caused the COVID pandemic.”

The study, which cites a 2017 dissertation by a WIV student, says that several of the WIV’s genetic engineering experiments on coronaviruses included methods that might make it difficult to identify deliberate modifications.

“Some of the WIV’s genetic engineering projects on coronaviruses involved techniques that could make it difficult to detect intentional changes,” the report states.

“A 2017 dissertation by a WIV student showed that reverse genetic cloning techniques—which are standard techniques used in advanced molecular laboratories—left no traces of genetic modification of SARS-like coronaviruses.”

The WIV researchers tried to clone unrelated pathogenic viruses and genetically modified chimeras of coronaviruses that resembled SARS. SARS-like coronaviruses were subjected to reverse genetic cloning procedures, despite the fact that the paper claims there is no evidence that SARS-CoV-2 has ever undergone purposeful genetic change.

Inadequate Biosafety Precautions at Wuhan Lab

Before the pandemic, the WIV had raised biosafety issues when dealing with coronaviruses that resembled SARS.

The report noted that some WIV researchers “probably did not use adequate biosafety precautions at least some of the time prior to the pandemic in handling SARS-like coronaviruses.” This increased the risk of potential exposure to viruses.

The report adds that biosafety upgrades, training, and purchases were being done in the middle of 2019, but the IC is not aware of any particular event that led to those actions. This happened at the same time as China’s more extensive biosecurity laws.

Even after the WIV’s BSL-4 laboratory was accredited in 2017, one problem raised in the study is the lack of openness around China’s determinations regarding which diseases required stricter biocontainment measures. At the facility, there was a dearth of staff who were adequately trained.

Despite recognized hazards, tests were nevertheless carried out in lower containment facilities in 2019.

A few months after the COVID-19 epidemic started in 2020, the high-containment laboratories of the WIV were inspected. The inspection found a number of problems, including the need for equipment updates, more disinfection precautions, and ventilation system upgrades.

Although the results were made during the institute’s crisis reaction to the COVID-19 epidemic, the study included a warning that they may not be accurate. “not necessarily indicative” of the WIV’s biosafety status prior to the outbreak.

In the fall of 2019, some WIV researchers fell sick before the COVID-19 outbreak. The IC’s assessment “neither supports nor refutes” the theory that they were infected with SARS-CoV-2, saying that their symptoms were “consistent with but not diagnostic of COVID-19.” Their symptoms, the report states, “could have been caused by a number of diseases and some of the symptoms were not consistent with COVID-19.”

China Has ‘Some Serious Explaining To Do’

In a joint statement, Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), chair of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, said the declassified report is “a promising step toward full transparency.”

The two Republican lawmakers declared that “everyone deserves to know the truth.” The pair said the information gathered by their committees during this Congress and the last “supports the likelihood of a lab leak.”

Turner and Wenstrup said their committees “will continue to investigate the origins of COVID-19 and the information obtained today will help to further its investigation.”

“The Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have some serious explaining to do. This declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Intelligence Community lends credence to the lab leak theory, which suggests that the coronavirus outbreak most likely originated from a Wuhan virology lab in China,” they said.

“This is on top of the Government Accountability Office’s report released last week outlining the flow of U.S. taxpayer dollars to Chinese entities known to be doing coronavirus research,” their statement continued.

“While we appreciate the report from ODNI, the corroboration of all available evidence, along with further investigation into the origins of COVID-19 must continue.”