Numerous reports have touched on the possibility that the novel coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China.
President Donald Trump suggested during an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier May 3 that the White House will release a “very conclusive” report that will give evidence about how the virus originally leaked out of China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The majority of those in the U.S. intelligence community agencies also believe that the novel coronavirus is natural and accidentally leaked out of the lab in China, according to an exclusive report published by the Daily Caller News Foundation May 2.
Most, though not all, of the 17 agencies that make up the intelligence community have this belief, a senior intelligence official told the DCNF. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence also said in a statement April 30 that the IC is looking into the possibility that COVID-19 came from a lab leak.
Sources say not all 17 intelligence agencies agree that the lab was the source of the virus because there is not yet a definitive “smoking gun”. But confidence is high among 70-75% of the agencies.
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) May 2, 2020
It is not believed that the novel coronavirus is “manmade or genetically modified,” the statement added. (RELATED: US Intelligence Community Confirms It’s Examining Whether Coronavirus Accidentally Leaked From Wuhan Lab)
Despite these reports, many in the media have dismissed the idea that the novel coronavirus came from a lab.
The Los Angeles Times published an article Saturday that dismissed the notion, even while noting that those high up in the U.S. government are considering it.
“The story has all the earmarks of a conspiracy theory,” the LA Times reported. “And it has drawn support from the highest levels of the U.S. government.”
The article cited a report published by the journal Natural Medicine from various experts that determined that they “do not believe that any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible.”
“The coronavirus was not engineered in a lab,” Live Science wrote March 21, adding that “the persistent myth can be put to bed.”
The Washington Post also published a fact-check video debunking the idea, despite many intelligence agencies not being as sure.
“It’s doubtful,” WaPo concluded.
Vox suggested the “conspiracy theory” was fake news, citing scientists who disagree with those in the intelligence agencies. The March 12 article named various “right-wing news outlets” and “several prominent U.S. conservative pundits and politicians” who are spreading the theory.
An editor’s note from April 23 continues to reject the notion, calling it a “‘lab leak’ theory.”
“Since this piece was originally published in March, the “lab leak” theory has continued to spread in some circles,” according to Vox.
