However, US intelligence services have not come to a single conclusion about the origin of the coronavirus.
U.S. intelligence in its report on the origin of the coronavirus concluded that it was not developed as a biological weapon.
The relevant document was published on the website of the Office of the Director of US National Intelligence.
“All agencies assess that two hypotheses are plausible: natural exposure to an infected animal and a laboratory-associated incident,” the document said.
However, US intelligence services have not come to a single conclusion about the origin of the virus and their opinions still differ. Two hypotheses are plausible: natural contact with an infected animal and an incident in a laboratory.
Also, US intelligence said that the Chinese authorities did not know about the new virus before the outbreak.
According to US intelligence, the virus probably originated and led to the infection of a person through an initial small-scale contact, which took place no later than November 2019. And the first known series of cases of COVID-19 occurred in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
The final assessment of the origin of the coronavirus will not be known without the assistance of China.
It is not possible to provide a clearer explanation of the origin of COVID-19 until new information can determine the specific route by which the initial natural contact with the animal occurred, or to establish that the laboratory in Wuhan worked with SARS-CoV-2 or a similar precursor virus before COVID-19 appeared.
But Beijing now continues to obstruct the global investigation, refuses to share information and blames other countries, including the United States.
“These analysts give weight to China’s officials’ lack of foreknowledge, the numerous vectors for natural exposure, and other factors,” the US National Intelligence Agency said.
It will be recalled that experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), who arrived in China to investigate the origin of the coronavirus, said that it was impossible to establish how SARS-CoV-2 hit the market in Wuhan. At the same time, they believe that it is unlikely to have spread from a Chinese laboratory.
In a study by scientists from the University of Cambridge, the University of Hawaii and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Change, researchers recorded changes in the type of vegetation in the Chinese province, which created an environment for the spread of bats that carry SARS-CoV-2.
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