The CIA announced on Saturday that it now considers a lab leak a more likely origin for the COVID-19 pandemic than a natural transmission, although the agency maintains "low confidence" in this assessment.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, the origins of the virus have been hotly debated. Initial cases were traced to Wuhan, China, where a wet market and a virology lab researching coronaviruses were located.
While many scientists supported a natural origin theory, others suggested a lab accident as a plausible cause.
Over the years, U.S. intelligence agencies have been divided on the matter. The FBI and the Department of Energy leaned toward the lab leak theory, while other agencies, including the CIA, previously refrained from taking a definitive stance.
The CIA's revised assessment, made public just days after former Congressman John Ratcliffe assumed leadership, represents a notable shift in the agency's position, Politico reported.
The "CIA continues to assess that both research-related and natural origin scenarios of the Covid-19 pandemic remain plausible," the agency said.
While still emphasizing "low confidence," the CIA stated that the lab leak hypothesis currently appears more likely than the natural origin scenario.
"We have low confidence in this judgement and will continue to evaluate any available credible new intelligence reporting or open-source information that could change CIA's assessment," the CIA said in a statement.
This announcement has reignited political debates in the U.S., with Republicans arguing for greater accountability from China and pointing to Wuhan's virology lab as the potential epicenter of the outbreak.
The Chinese government continues to deny any link between the pandemic and the Wuhan lab.
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