‘US Intel unable to determine source of Covid-19’

WASHINGTON: US intelligence agencies are unable to determine conclusively how the Covid-19 pandemic emerged, a summary of a classified report released Friday said as the US president rebuked China for stonewalling a US investigation into the origins of the coronavirus.

Four agencies assessed, with low confidence, that it reached humans via infected animals, the summary said, but one argued with moderate confidence that it was the result of a lab accident.

The summary, drawn from a much longer classified report presented toPresident Biden on Tuesday, is unequivocal on two major points. “We judge the virus was not developed as a biological weapon,” it stated. And, it said, U.S. spy agencies don’t think that Chinese officials had foreknowledge of the virus, SARS-COV-2, before the outbreak emerged.

Most agencies assessed, though with low confidence, that the virus wasn’t genetically engineered, although two said there wasn’t enough information to make a judgment, the report stated.

President Joe Biden rebuked China for stonewalling a U.S. investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, as his administration reported it was unable to reach firm conclusions because of Beijing’s unwillingness to cooperate. “The world deserves answers, and I will not rest until we get them,” Biden said in a statement on Friday shortly after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released an unclassified summary of the report. “Responsible nations do not shirk these kinds of responsibilities to the rest of the world.”