Delayed Pentagon Report Reveals U.S. Troops Had COVID-Like Symptoms After 2019 Wuhan Military Games

The 2022 report, withheld by the Biden administration until March 2025, raises new questions about early virus spread and lab leak theories.

A newly surfaced 2022 Defense Department report confirms that seven U.S. service members exhibited COVID-19-like symptoms after attending the 2019 World Military Games in Wuhan, months before the virus's official emergence.
The Biden administration withheld the report, mandated for public release under the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, until it was uploaded online in March 2025 by the Trump administration.
The report strengthens claims that COVID-19 was circulating in Wuhan as early as October 2019, with corroboration from international athletes who also reported similar symptoms after the games.
Intelligence agencies, including the CIA and FBI, have increasingly supported the theory that the virus originated from a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, located near the games' venue.
Lawmakers, including Sen. Jodi Ernst and Rep. Ronny Jackson, are calling for further investigations into the origins of COVID-19 and the timeline of its early spread.