The White House has recently updated its COVID.gov website, presenting a new page that asserts a claim regarding the origin of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The pandemic, which emerged five years ago, has significantly altered our lives.
During this extended period, social interactions were restricted, preventing us from sharing crucial life moments such as mourning, childbirth, and community gatherings.
The COVID-19 virus, after initially being reported in China in 2019, spread rapidly across the globe, resulting in numerous casualties over the years.
The origin of the virus has been a topic of much debate.
Speculations have ranged from it being a man-made product or bioweapon to an accidental leak or a virus that naturally crossed from animals to humans, similar to bird flu and mad cow disease.
These questions sparked significant discussions during the pandemic. While the U.S. government largely dismissed the possibility of a laboratory origin in Wuhan, China, some focused on the wet market in the area, which housed species such as bats and other cultural foods, drawing criticism from the public.
However, a University of Oxford study found that bats were not sold in the market before its closure when the outbreak began.
What is the stance of Donald Trump’s administration on this issue now?
The new landing page, titled ‘Lab Leak: True Origins of COVID-19,’ presents a five-point argument supporting the theory that COVID-19 originated from a lab leak in Wuhan.
This theory is based on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic report released in December 2024.
Before this update, the COVID.gov site provided information on testing, vaccination, treatment, and resources related to Long COVID.
Now, it features a five-part list presenting the White House’s ‘evidence’ on the origin of the pandemic.
The page states: “The virus possesses a biological characteristic that is not found in nature.
“Data shows that all COVID-19 cases stem from a single introduction into humans. This runs contrary to previous pandemics where there were multiple spillover events.
“Wuhan is home to China’s foremost SARS research lab, which has a history of conducting gain-of-function research (gene altering and organism supercharging) at inadequate biosafety levels.
“Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) researchers were sick with COVID-like symptoms in the fall of 2019, months before COVID-19 was discovered at the wet market.
“By nearly all measures of science, if there was evidence of a natural origin it would have already surfaced. But it hasn’t.”
The page also alleges that government officials, including former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, edited a research paper on the origins of COVID-19 – published in 2020 – leaning towards the virus being naturally occurring.
However, both the report’s authors and Fauci have denied these claims.
In 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified report indicating a natural spillover as the believed origin by the intelligence community.
However, a subsequent declassified report in 2023 revealed a division within the intelligence community on this issue, with U.S. agencies agreeing that the virus was not developed as a biological weapon.