(Photo : Getty Images/Win McNamee)
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden walks toward members of the press to answer questions before departing from the White House on May 25, 2021 in Washington, DC. Biden is scheduled to make a quick trip to Wilmington before returning to Washington later this evening.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday stated he had directed the United States intelligence community to exert more efforts in probing into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. He expects them to report back to him in 90 days. The declaration comes after a US intelligence report discovered numerous researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China falling ill in November 2019. They had to be hospitalized. It serves as a new detail that fueled further debate regarding the origins of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Biden revealed that previously this 2021, he ordered the intelligence community to prepare a report on their most recent evaluation of the origins of COVID-19. The president's statement mirrors the unique way that the intelligence community conveys its findings to sitting presidents, reported CNBC.
US Intelligence Community Puts Forward Two Like Scenarios
Questions grow whether the novel coronavirus resulted from an accident in a Chinese laboratory or was transmitted through other means. The intelligence community has been divided over the issue. According to Biden's statement, they have "coalesced around two likely scenarios."
Two elements of the community lean toward the possibility that the coronavirus surfaced from human contact with an infected animal and the possibility of a laboratory accident. Their evaluations are executed with moderate or low confidence.
The President stated, "As of today, the US intelligence community has 'coalesced around two likely scenarios' but has not reached a definitive conclusion on this question." White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre would not publicly disclose the findings of a future report, reported NBC News.
The White House has been pressured to conduct its own probe after China told the World Health Organization (WHO) that it regarded Beijing's part of the investigation complete. It called for efforts to detect the virus's origins to shift into other nations. According to Biden in a statement, "While two elements in the IC lean toward the former scenario and one leans more toward the latter-each with low or moderate confidence-the majority of elements do not believe there is sufficient information to assess one to be more likely than the other," reported The Wall Street Journal.
In late 2019, COVID-19 reportedly first emerged in Wuhan, China. It has become prevalent across the globe. According to Johns Hopkins, nearly 3.5 million fatalities have been recorded, and confirmed cases amount to almost 168 million. Much remains to be known regarding its origins. China has been sensitive regarding any suggestion it could have exerted more efforts in the early stages of the outbreak to stop it.
According to White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, it will require much effort from the government, national labs, and other agencies to probe into COVID-19 origins. US officials underscored for months that a lack of contribution from the government in Beijing hinders outside efforts to probe into the origins of COVID-19.
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