Was there a lab leak? U.S. officials explain that the emergence of COVID-19 was not a coincidence.

Members of the United States Congress, following a two-year investigation, state that the coronavirus, which has caused a large number of deaths, was most likely artificially created and has a laboratory origin. Its spread occurred as a result of a leak.

This is stated in a published report by American lawmakers. They note that the laboratory operated with inadequate levels of biological safety.

"The COVID-19 virus most likely originated from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan," the document states.

COVID-19 likely emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. Five significant arguments supporting the "lab leak" theory include:

1. The virus has biological characteristics not found in nature.
2. Data show that all COVID-19 cases stem from a single introduction to humans. This contradicts previous pandemics, which involved multiple spillover events.
3. Wuhan is home to a leading Chinese laboratory studying atypical pneumonia, which has experience conducting research under inadequate levels of biological safety.
4. Researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) fell ill with a virus similar to COVID in the fall of 2019, several months before COVID-19 was detected globally.
5. By all scientific standards, if there were evidence of natural origin, it would have already surfaced.

Congress members also pointed out the presence of a leading research laboratory in Wuhan studying SARS viruses, which, according to lawmakers, has a history of conducting research under "inadequate levels of biological safety."

"Researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) became ill with a coronavirus-like virus in the fall of 2019, months before COVID-19 was identified in the wild animal market. By all scientific standards, if there were evidence of natural origin, it would have surfaced by now," the report concluded.

On Wednesday, December 4, 2024, at 10:30 AM, the Select Subcommittee will mark up the final report and officially present it to the Congressional record.

Recall that earlier "Telegraph" reported that in the summer of 2024, the first five cases of a new subvariant of COVID-19 — FLiRT — were detected in Ukraine.