Published on : 02/27/2023 – 01:15
Like the FBI, the US Department of Energy believes that the Covid-19 pandemic is the result of mishandling in a Chinese laboratory, several media report. However, the opinions of the intelligence agencies differ on the subject.
The US Department of Energy now believes that a laboratory accident in China is probably the cause of the Covid-19 pandemic. New intelligence has tipped the department’s analysis on the side of the leak hypothesis, according to unnamed sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and CNN.
The newspapers insist, however, that this new analysis is published “with a low level of confidence” by the ministry, which oversees biology laboratories.
>> To read on France 24.com: The Covid-19 pandemic and its origins, a story with drawers
The ministry joins, according to the economic daily, the FBI to estimate that the pandemic which arose at the beginning of 2020, killing since nearly 7 million people, is the result of poor handling within a Chinese laboratory.
‘No definitive answer from the intelligence community’
But the American media underline the persistent divergences between intelligence agencies. Indeed, four of them believe that the Covid occurred by natural transmission, and two remain undecided, still according to the Wall Street Journal.
“At this time, no definitive response from the intelligence community has emerged on the matter,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday.
In mid-February, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) pledged to do everything to obtain “an answer” on the origins of Covid-19, firmly denying reports that the organization has given up his investigation. The scientific community considers it crucial to know the origins of this pandemic to be able to better fight or even avoid the next one.
With AFP
Source: France 24
