Biden wants to know definitively “whether it emerged from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory accident”.
US President Joe Biden has ordered US intelligence agencies to “redouble their efforts” in the investigation into Covid-19’s origins.
In March of this year, the President tasked US intelligence agencies to prepare a report on their most up-to-date analysis on the origins of the virus.
In a statement released by the White House, Biden said the report was to include “whether it emerged from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory accident”.
The President revealed the US Intelligence Community has “coalesced around two likely scenarios” but has not reached a definitive conclusion.
In response, Biden has asked the Intelligence Community to “redouble their efforts” to collect and analyze information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion and report back in 90 days.
Biden said: “As part of that report, I have asked for areas of further inquiry that may be required, including specific questions for China.
“The United States will also keep working with like-minded partners around the world to press China to participate in a full, transparent, evidence-based international investigation and to provide access to all relevant data and evidence.”
The President also stated: “Back in early 2020, when Covid-19 emerged, I called for the CDC to get access to China to learn about the virus so we could fight it more effectively.
“The failure to get our inspectors on the ground in those early months will always hamper any investigation into the origin of Covid-19.”
You can read the full statement from the White House here.
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