U.S. Congressional Report Supports Likely Lab Origin of COVID-19
A 520-page investigation by a House subcommittee concludes the virus may have emerged from a lab accident in Wuhan, though definitive proof remains elusive.
- The U.S. House subcommittee's report, based on two years of investigations, posits that SARS-CoV-2 likely originated from a laboratory or research accident in Wuhan, China.
- The findings are supported by over 30 expert interviews and the review of more than one million pages of documents, though no conclusive evidence has been presented.
- Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key figure in the U.S. COVID-19 response, refuted claims during his testimony that the virus could have been genetically engineered, calling such a scenario 'molecularly impossible.'
- The report highlights ongoing disagreements among global scientific and intelligence communities, with many experts still favoring the theory of zoonotic transmission from animals to humans.
- The pandemic, which began in late 2019, has claimed an estimated 20 million lives worldwide, including 1.1 million in the United States, and caused widespread societal and economic disruption.