By Dan McCaleb | The Center Square
(Worthy News) – The COVID-19 virus “more likely” originated from a research lab in China, the CIA now says, though it has “low confidence” in its determination.
Multiple media outlets are reporting the CIA shifted its position from being undecided on the origin to saying it more likely came from the Wuhan lab rather than from human exposure to an infected animal such as a bat.
“CIA assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely than a natural origin based on the available body of reporting,” a CIA spokesperson said in a statement, according to NBC News. “CIA continues to assess that both research-related and natural origin scenarios of the COVID-19 pandemic remain plausible.”
Other federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Energy and former FBI Director Christopher Wray, have said the Wuhan lab is the likely origin of the COVID-19 virus, but expressed a similar lack of confidence as the CIA.
COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020, leading elected officials across the U.S. and the world to issue stay-at-home orders that led to millions of job losses. More than 1 million Americans died from COVID-19.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
European royal houses have been shaken by fresh revelations from newly unsealed documents linked to the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit faces renewed scrutiny over years of contact with him, and Britain’s royal family continues to grapple with fallout from ties between Epstein and a senior royal.
A Russian drone strike on a bus carrying mineworkers in southeastern Ukraine killed at least 15 people on Sunday, Ukrainian officials said.
The Israel Defense Forces’ Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir held a discreet weekend visit to Washington, meeting senior U.S. defense officials amid rising tensions with Iran and uncertainty over a possible American strike.
President Donald Trump’s promised U.S. military “armada” has now arrived in the Middle East, led by the aircraft carrier strike group centered on the USS Abraham Lincoln. Yet despite the high-profile deployment of naval power and advanced fighter aircraft, U.S. officials say a major American response against Iran may be delayed as the Pentagon focuses on fortifying air defenses across the region, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The U.S. Senate sent a $1.2 trillion government funding package back to the House for approval Friday night, ensuring a partial government shutdown over the weekend.
As the 2026 midterm elections approach, state legislatures have grappled with fierce mid-decade redistricting efforts in an attempt to give an advantage to their political party. Based on current map projections, Republicans could flip three more seats than Democrats. Republicans currently have a slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Suspected armed bandits attacked a community in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State, police said, burning a police station, torching part of a church, and abducting several residents.