Considerable evidence points to the COVID-19 pandemic being linked to the high-level laboratory in Wuhan, China, that’s located near where the first cases were reported, a U.S. Senate report released on Oct. 27 states. “Substantial evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic was the result of a research-related incident associated with a laboratory in Wuhan, China,” the report states.
“A research-related incident is consistent with the early epidemiology showing rapid spread of the virus exclusively in Wuhan with the earliest calls for assistance being located in the same district as the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s (WIV) original campus in central Wuhan. The WIV is an epicenter of advanced coronavirus research, where researchers have collected samples of and experimented on high-risk coronaviruses.”
The origins of COVID-19 are still unknown. Some scientists lean towards a lab origin, which would mean the virus leaked or was released by Chinese researchers. Others favor a natural origin theory. The report says a natural origin remains possible but noted that evidence found in previous instances of a virus starting in nature hasn’t been identified for COVID-19, such as the original animal host.