COVID’S CONTESTED ORIGIN [FT408:6-7]
An updated and classified study from the US energy department, which manages a number of biomedical research institutions, has concluded that the Covid-19 virus probably emerged from a laboratory leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, but was not part of a weapons research programme. The update “was done in light of new intelligence, further study of academic literature and consultation with experts outside government,” says the department, but it also said it had “low confidence” in the conclusion. This means that while they feel that, on balance, this is currently the most likely explanation, the evidence is far from conclusive. The Covid-19 virus was not found in the wild in the Wuhan area, but was endemic in bats elsewhere in China, from whom the Wuhan lab had collected samples. They were also known to be carrying out “gain of function” experiments with viruses to make them
