CIA provides new information on Covid 19

The CIA has changed its mind about the causes of the coronavirus outbreak. According to the New York Times, US intelligence services now lean towards a coronavirus leak from a Chinese laboratory located in Wuhan.

American intelligence services have been stating for years that they don't have enough information to draw a clear conclusion on the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are two main theories: the natural emergence of the virus at a market in Wuhan or an accidental leak from a research laboratory in Wuhan.

However, according to the New York Times, the CIA has just released a new assessment in which analysts lean towards the laboratory leak theory. Anonymous officials have said that this change in position wasn't due to new intelligence. Nevertheless, the analysis is partly based on a study of the conditions in Wuhan's high-security laboratories before the pandemic.

The spokesman for the CIA has stated that the other theory (the market one) remains likely, and that the agency will therefore continue to evaluate any new reliable information that becomes available.

(MH with D. Rodriguez - Source: New York Times - Photo: © Unsplash)