The United States government is looking into the possibility that the SARS-CoV-2 leaked from a Chinese laboratory and from their spread the coronavirus disease, rather than from the Huanan Seafood Market.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the US intelligence and national security officials said that the U.S. is looking into a possible truth to what began as a conspiracy theory. However, they also said that this is still premature and people should be careful not to draw any conclusions.
It was stated that the laboratory theory is one of the many theories being pursued by investigators who are looking into determining the true origin of the virus which caused a worldwide pandemic and killed thousands of people.
However, the sources made it clear that the US does not believe that the virus was created as a bioweapon or a part of bioweapon research. They also said that there is no proof that indicates that the virus was man-made.
Moreover, the officials said that they are also looking into a range of theories regarding the virus' origin, which is the typical case for high-profile incidents such as this pandemic.
The theory that the virus possibly came from a laboratory has been pushed through by supporters of US President Donald Trump. Among those are congressional Republicans who are also trying to deflect the criticisms that the administration is receiving regarding the handling of the pandemic in the US.
Based on an intelligence official who is familiar with the government analysis said that the US intelligence has not yet corroborated the theory but they are looking into the different ways that the virus leaked from the lab. They are trying to discern whether it was spread through a personnel from the laboratory who got infected or it was the poor handling of the specimen which caused the infections.
No conclusions has been made yet
At the moment, the US intelligence is going over sensitive intelligence collection about the speculations as they are in pusuit of finding the truth about the theory.
According to Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, the intelligence group is taking a "hard look" at answering the question of whether the virus that spread the pandemic indeed originated in the laboratory. He also added that at the moment, the information is inconclusive but the evidence is pointing to a natural origin of the virus.
On Thursday, Mark Esper, the country's Defense Secretary agreed with Milley's and said that the government is looking into the theory but has not yet concluded anything.
Meanwhile, President Trump said that the US is currently "doing a very thorough examination of this horrible situation that happened" when he was asked about the intelligence information. However, he did discuss anything about the findings.
China remains firm that virus did not originate in the laboratory
China has repeatedly denied the speculations that the outbreak started from a research facility. On Thursday, Zhao Lijian, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that China's position remains clear on the talks about the virus's origin. He also indicated the statement of the World Health Organization saying that there is no evidence pointing to the virus being created in a lab and that the 'laboratory leaks' theories lack scientific proof.