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
Israel signaled a major escalation in its war against Iran on Thursday as the Israeli Air Force struck the Parchin military complex near Tehran, part of what military leaders describe as the “next phase” of the campaign aimed at dismantling Iran’s military capabilities.
The U.S. economy unexpectedly lost 92,000 jobs in February, according to new data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, marking a sharp reversal from earlier forecasts that predicted modest job growth.
The United Arab Emirates is considering freezing billions of dollars in Iranian assets held within its financial system, a move that could severely restrict one of Tehran’s most important economic lifelines, according to a Wall Street Journal exclusive citing officials familiar with the discussions.
Congressional efforts to halt the U.S. military’s operations in Iran have now failed twice, with the U.S. House tanking a War Powers Resolution only a day after it was rejected in the Senate.
A Christian man in Malta who faced jail time for publicly stating he had left the gay lifestyle said he “praises God” after being acquitted following a three-year legal battle in a case that could have wider European ramifications.
Israel says its war against Iran is entering a more intense phase after the Israeli Air Force achieved broad air superiority and severely weakened the regime’s military infrastructure.
Concerns grew Thursday that the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran could affect the war in Ukraine, amid fears Washington may soon lack sufficient munitions to continue supporting Kyiv, including through its European allies.