COVID-19 Pandemic: The CIA now backs the theory of a "lab leak" in Wuhan.

The new CIA Director John Ratcliffe, during his oath-taking, stated that investigating the origins of COVID is a "day one" priority. Now, the CIA supports the theory of the virus's laboratory origin. Previously, for many years, the CIA claimed it lacked sufficient information to conclude how the COVID-19 pandemic emerged: whether naturally from a wildlife market in Wuhan or as a result of an accidental leak from a research laboratory. This was reported by NY Times.

Last week, the agency released a new assessment, in which analysts indicated they now favor the laboratory leak theory.

An agency representative mentioned that this shift is based on "the existing body of data," although the alternative theory remains plausible.

John Ratcliffe, the new CIA Director, has long supported the laboratory leak hypothesis.

He emphasized that this is critically important intelligence information that needs to be contemplated and that will have implications for U.S.-China relations.

The announcement of this change came shortly after Ratcliffe stated in an interview that he no longer wants the agency to remain "on the sidelines" of the debates regarding the origins of the COVID pandemic. Ratcliffe has long maintained that, in his opinion, the virus likely originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

In the final weeks of Joe Biden's administration, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan ordered a new secret analysis of the origins of the pandemic.

Officials stated that the agency does not intend to change its position in favor of the new director and that the new assessment has been in development for some time.

Even in the absence of solid intelligence, the laboratory leak hypothesis is gaining traction within intelligence agencies. However, some analysts question the prudence of changing the position without new information.

The previous CIA Director, William Burns, told analysts that they need to take a clear stance on the origins of COVID-19, although he was uncertain which theory they should adopt. This was reported by a senior U.S. intelligence official.

Another high-ranking U.S. official stated that the decision to declassify and publish the new analysis was made by John Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe raised concerns about the politicization within intelligence agencies. John Ratcliffe, who served as the Director of National Intelligence during Donald Trump's first administration, argued in an essay for Fox News in 2023 that the CIA was reluctant to accept the laboratory leak theory to avoid geopolitical issues for the Biden administration.

"The real problem is that the only assessment the agency could provide — namely, that the virus that killed over a million Americans originated in a lab controlled by the CCP, whose research included work for the Chinese military — has enormous geopolitical ramifications that the Biden administration does not want to confront directly," he stated in an article co-authored with Cliff Sims, a senior aide.

No new intelligence underpins the agency's shift. Rather, it is based on the same evidence that has been examined over the past several months. However, the analysis is partially based on a more detailed examination of conditions in high-security laboratories in China's Wuhan province prior to the outbreak of the pandemic.

Officials claim there are compelling logical arguments for both the laboratory leak theory and the natural cause theory, yet there is simply no decisive data on the matter.

The five-year anniversary of the 76-day lockdown in Wuhan was on January 23, 2025, and the origins of COVID-19 remain unresolved, with the World Health Organization (WHO) continuing to urge China to provide more data while Beijing insists it has disclosed all available information.

Life in the city of over 11 million people has largely returned to normal, but memories of the pandemic linger for many residents who recall the uncertainty of the early days, food shortages, and the struggle for hospital beds.

Debates about the origins of COVID-19 continue: some scientists suspect animal-to-human transmission, while others point to a possible laboratory-related incident.

To confirm the theory of natural origins, intelligence officials would like to find the animal that transmitted the virus to humans or identify a bat that is a carrier of the likely ancestor of the coronavirus causing COVID-19.

Similarly, to close the laboratory leak theory, the intelligence community would like to find evidence that one of the laboratories in Wuhan was working on a precursor virus that directly led to the outbreak. No evidence has been found.

Recall that in 2021, there were even four theories about the origin of the coronavirus. And the head of the World Health Organization's mission investigating the origins of the coronavirus, Ben Embarek, stated that a likely "zero patient" of the disease could have been a laboratory worker in Wuhan who contracted it from a bat.