China speaks out after CIA makes new assessment on Covid-19 origin

AFP news agency on January 27 quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning as saying that it is unlikely that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the Covid-19 pandemic, originated from a laboratory.

"The conclusion that a laboratory leak is extremely unlikely was made by the China-WHO (World Health Organization) expert team based on on-site visits to relevant laboratories in Wuhan (Hubei Province, China)," according to Ms. Mao Ninh.

"This has been widely recognized by the international community and the scientific community," the spokesman added.

Last week, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released a new assessment, in which analysts favored the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a laboratory.

Over the years, the CIA has said it has not had enough information to conclude whether the Covid-19 pandemic originated naturally in a farmers market in Wuhan, China, or was accidentally leaked from a laboratory there.

The latest change is based on “available reporting,” though any of those theories are possible, a CIA spokesman said.

Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) called on China to provide more data to understand the origins of the disease. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning later asserted that the country had shared information about Covid-19 “without holding anything back.”

In a statement on January 27, the spokesperson called on the US to "stop politicizing and exploiting the issue of traceability" and called on the US to "stop smearing and blaming other countries (and) should respond to the legitimate concerns of the international community as soon as possible".

In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that Covid-19, influenza A and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) outbreaks have all increased since November 2023.

During the week of January 12-18, about a quarter of influenza A tests, 8.8% of RSV tests, and 6.2% of Covid-19 tests came back positive. For norovirus, nearly 28% of these tests came back positive during the week ending January 4. Norovirus is a highly contagious intestinal virus that can be transmitted through direct or indirect contact with an infected person and causes severe vomiting and diarrhea.