Previously, the CIA did not take a position on where the virus - which is responsible for more than seven million deaths worldwide - came from.

Since COVID-19 first took off, political leaders, infectious disease specialists, and the lay public have debated its origins. Eventually, two hypotheses emerged: Either the virus crossed over from animals to humans in a wet market in Wuhan—the city in which the disease first appeared—or it leaked from a Chinese lab,

CIA concludes Covid-19 likely originated from China lab leak - The assessment was published this weekend on orders from Trump-appointed spy chief John Ratcliffe