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German Intelligence Suggests COVID-19 Likely Originated from Wuhan Lab

A 2020 report by Germany's BND assessed an 80-95% likelihood of a lab accident causing the pandemic, but findings were not made public at the time.

Health workers are seen taking a break as people wait in line outside of a COVID-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas' hospital, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease pandemic in London, Britain, March 29, 2021. REUTERS/Toby Melville/ File Photo
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The Wuhan Institute of Virology is said to have conducted high-risk experiments
A woman receives a booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Police hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, January 5, 2023. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/ File Photo

Overview

  • Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND, concluded in 2020 that the COVID-19 pandemic likely resulted from a lab accident at China's Wuhan Institute of Virology.
  • The assessment, based on public data and an intelligence operation code-named 'Saaremaa,' indicated risky gain-of-function research and safety violations at the lab.
  • The report estimated an 80-95% probability of a lab origin but was not disclosed publicly by the German government under Angela Merkel or Olaf Scholz.
  • The findings were shared with the CIA in 2024, which also leans toward the lab-leak theory but maintains low confidence in its assessment.
  • China has consistently denied the lab-leak hypothesis, citing a 2021 WHO investigation that deemed it 'extremely unlikely,' though calls for further inquiry persist.