COVID-19 pandemic originated in China's Wuhan: FBI chief

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray on March 1 claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic originated from a lab incident in China's Wuhan.

Taking to the micro-blogging site Twitter, the investigation agency said, "FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed that the Bureau has assessed that the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from a lab incident in Wuhan, China".

#FBI Director Wray confirmed that the Bureau has assessed that the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from a lab incident in Wuhan, China. pic.twitter.com/LcBVNU7vmO

— FBI (@FBI) March 1, 2023

The FBI further said that the investigation agency has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan. 

''I will just make the observation that the Chinese government... has been doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate the work here, the work that we're doing, the work that our US government and close foreign partners are doing," the FBI chief added.

The lawmakers particularly House and Senate Republicans have been pursuing their own investigations into the origins of the pandemic and are pressing the Biden administration and the intelligence community for more information.

As per a report by Wall Street Journal, the Energy Department now joins the FBI in claiming the virus likely spread via a mishap at a Chinese laboratory.

The report further claimed that the Energy Department's conclusion is the result of new intelligence and is significant because the agency has considerable scientific expertise and oversees a network of US national laboratories, some of which conduct advanced biological research.

COVID-19 first spread in China's Wuhan in November 2019 as per the US 2021 intelligence report.

The pandemic's origin has been the subject of vigorous debate among academics, intelligence experts, and lawmakers.

Following the emergence of the pandemic heightened tensions between the US and China, which US officials alleged was withholding information about the outbreak.

The spread of COVID-19 also led to a spirited and at times partisan debate in the US about it's origin.

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