Even as the world reels under the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, US President Joe Biden has ordered US intelligence agencies to report to him in the next three months on whether the virus first emerged in China from an animal source or from a laboratory accident. In a surprise statement, Biden announced that the US intelligence community had delivered a report to him earlier this month on the virus's origins. He ordered intelligence agencies to 'redouble their efforts' and report to him again in 90 days. Anthony Fauci, one of the faces of the US pandemic response and an adviser to President Joe Biden, reiterated Wednesday that he believed it was unlikely that the virus came from a lab. Some Chinese diplomats have gone further, suggesting that the virus might have American origins.

Source: dna May 27, 2021 13:30 UTC