Biden to Hear 90-Day Intelligence Review on COVID-19 Origins
President Joe Biden will receive a briefing this week on an intelligence community investigation into how the COVID-19 pandemic began. Despite growing patience, most officials expect the report to leave many questions unanswered.
The Impetus for a New Review
- The administration has asked agencies to settle differences over two main theories: a lab‑accident in Wuhan vs. a natural bat-to-human spillover.
- President Biden ordered a 90‑day review in May, with the first results slated for Tuesday, Aug. 24.
- Unclassified excerpts will follow a few days later.
What the Report Will Likely Deliver
According to insiders, the findings probably won’t pin down a single origin. Instead, they may identify new investigative angles and heightened diplomatic friction with China.
- Thomas Wright of Brookings writes that a comprehensive study is impossible without cooperation from the primary suspect.
- He advises treating both hypotheses as equally plausible.
State of the Science
Since December 2019, when the first cases surfaced in Wuhan, US agencies initially leaned toward the natural origin theory. The WHO, working in partnership with Chinese scientists, said a 4‑week mission in January‑February pointed to a bat‑to-human link through an intermediate animal. However, it dismissed the lab hypothesis as “extremely unlikely,” a verdict that Washington found unsatisfactory.
Meanwhile, China has consistently refused the US access to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, hindering deeper inquiry. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the WHO has declared that none of the hypotheses can be ruled out, and the organization plans to assemble a new panel for further study.
Inside the Debate
Footnotes like [[nid:541487]] and [[nid:541695]] hint at the political and informational tensions underlying the investigation. In short, the U.S. faces obstacles both in data access and in managing diplomatic relations amid a scenario that has already strained ties with Beijing.
Broader Implications
Beyond the origin mystery, intelligence agencies are under pressure over how the U.S. handled the rapid collapse of Kabul, another high‑stakes issue. These internal pressures may influence how aggressively the search for COVID origins proceeds.
At the end of the day, the pandemic has claimed 4.6 million lives worldwide—a staggering toll that underscores the importance of delivering clear answers. Yet, with China uncooperative and time ticking, the journey toward that clarity is about as straightforward as finding a needle in a haystack.
