The US intelligence community believes that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was neither man-made nor genetically modified, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said in a statement on Thursday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th April, 2020) The US intelligence community believes that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was neither man-made nor genetically modified, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said in a statement on Thursday.
"The entire Intelligence Community has been consistently providing critical support to US policymakers and those responding to the COVID-19 virus, which originated in China," the statement said. "The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified."
Some US lawmakers have called for hearings to examine China's role in sprawling the virus, its role in spreading the disease internationally and its efforts to downplay its responsibility for its premeditated actions.
China has said in official statements the virus was developed in a US bioweapons laboratory and brought its Wuhan laboratory by infected US service members.
However, US lawmakers have said formal investigations are not likely to begin until the COVID-19 pandemic is under control in the United States.
"The Intelligence Community will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan," the statement said.
As of Thursday, more than 3.2 million COVID-19 cases and over 228,000 deaths have been recorded worldwide, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
