FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER Wray has said that the source of Covid-19 was “most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan.”. 

Wray made the comments in an interview with Fox News, Wray also accused the Chinese government of trying to stall US efforts to investigate the causes of the pandemic.

 “The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan,” Wray told Fox News’ Brett Baier.

He added: 

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.

“And that’s unfortunate for everybody.”

Wray’s comments come after a report earlier this week said the US Department of Energy had determined that a leak from a Chinese lab was the most likely cause of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The department’s findings are significant because it works with a network of national laboratories, including some that do advanced biological research.

But other agencies within the US intelligence community believe the virus emerged naturally in the world.

In response, Beijing accused Washington of harming its own credibility with the claims. Chinese officials have angrily denied the claim, calling it a smear campaign against Beijing.

“The United States once again stirs up the laboratory leak theory, which will not discredit China, which will further lower its own credibility,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular briefing today. 

At the briefing, Mao reiterated a longstanding and unsubstantiated Chinese claim that the virus could have escaped from the US military research lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland.

“The US should respect science and facts, cooperate with the World Health Organization as soon as possible, invite international experts to conduct traceability research in its country, and share research results with the international community,” she said.

The scientific community sees it as crucial to determine the origins of the pandemic in order to better fight or even prevent the next one.

© – AFP 2023