The White House has unveiled a new website promoting the theory that the coronavirus responsible for Covid-19 is a human-made pathogen that escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China. This initiative reignites a long-standing debate regarding the origins of the pandemic, which has been the focus of numerous investigations by federal agencies, health organisations, and congressional committees.
In January, the CIA released a report suggesting that a lab leak was likely, although it was deemed to have “low confidence.” This conclusion echoed assessments from the Energy and State Departments. Initially, the CIA maintained it lacked sufficient information to determine the virus’s origin. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) continues to consider all possibilities, including the transmission of the virus from animals to humans in a Wuhan market.
The new website goes further than previous reports by asserting that the virus has biological characteristics “not found in nature” and claims that if there were evidence for a natural origin, it would have “already surfaced.” The federal Covid.gov site, previously focused on vaccines and treatments, now redirects visitors to this new lab leak page.
While US intelligence agencies remain open to various origins, they mostly agree that the virus was not genetically engineered. Many scientists believe that the virus likely arose naturally and spread to humans during an outbreak in the Wuhan market, with the exact origins possibly never being confirmed.
US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary defended the website during a Fox News interview, stating that the public desires closure and answers concerning the pandemic, including aspects like school closures and vaccine mandates. The new site resonates with findings from a Republican-led House committee, which concluded last year that the virus likely originated in a lab. In contrast, Democratic committee members called for increased transparency without reaching a definitive conclusion.
The website also addresses perceived shortcomings of the Covid-19 response, highlighting issues such as lockdowns, mask mandates, research funding, and allegations of obstruction from the Health and Human Services (HHS) department regarding congressional investigations. This page notably features President Joe Biden’s preemptive pardon of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Several Trump administration officials have critiqued both the pandemic response and the Biden administration’s actions, suggesting that the site could lead to further scrutiny from health agencies. Republicans in Congress have expressed a desire to reinstate a ban on certain types of research, specifically referring to gain-of-function studies, which were previously moratoriumed during Trump’s presidency. Although Biden officials proposed stricter oversight on such research, they have not broadly banned it, with new guidelines set to take effect in May.