The report states that SARS-CoV-2 'probably emerged due to a laboratory-related accident or research,' with increasing evidence supporting the lab-leak theory pointing to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The US House of Representatives' Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released a 520-page final report concluding that the virus causing COVID-19 most likely originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. The report was the result of a two-year investigation involving 38 interviews, including two days of closed-door interviews with Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the review of more than one million pages of documents.
"Four years after the onset of the worst pandemic in 100 years, the weight of the evidence increasingly supports the lab leak hypothesis," the report stated, as reported by Fox News. "By nearly all measures of science, if there was evidence of a natural origin it would have already surfaced." The subcommittee provided five key arguments supporting this conclusion, including the virus's biological characteristics not found in nature and its single source of infection.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, the Republican congressman and podiatrist who is the chairman of the committee, emphasized the importance of the findings. "This work will help the United States, and the world, to predict the next pandemic, prepare for it, protect ourselves from it, and—hopefully—to prevent it," he stated.
The subcommittee's findings have intensified the ongoing political controversy over pandemic response, with Democrats deeming the measures necessary and Republicans calling them the result of wrong decisions.
The report praised Operation Warp Speed, calling it a "tremendous success" and an "incredible feat of science" that saved millions of lives through the rapid development of vaccines, according to CNN. However, it also criticized health authorities and the Biden administration for exaggerating the power of vaccines to prevent transmission or infection. The report stated that "contrary to what was promised, the COVID-19 vaccine did not stop the spread or transmission of the virus."
Fox News reported that the report found that masks in general and mask mandates specifically "had no effect in controlling the spread of COVID-19," and that the six-foot social distancing rule was "scientifically baseless." and invented without a basis in science.
The report also criticized the impact of lockdowns on the economy and society. According to The Washington Times, it concluded that social lockdown measures "caused more harm than good" to the economy, overall health of Americans, and the development of children.
Dr. Anthony Fauci faced intense scrutiny in the report, with accusations of suppressing the lab leak theory and influencing studies to support a natural origin of the virus. Fauci "prompted" the 2020 study titled "The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2" to "disprove" the lab leak theory.
During testimony, Dr. Fauci stated that it would be "molecularly impossible" for the bat viruses studied in a laboratory in Wuhan to have transformed into the virus that caused the pandemic.
The report also raised concerns about US funding of gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. According to Deutsche Welle, the National Institutes of Health provided funding for gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab, which aims to enhance viruses as a way of finding ways to combat them. The report highlighted that EcoHealth Alliance, a US organization, misled the NIH on the details of its research projects, as reported by The Hill.
The report expressed concern over the decision to close schools, stating that the closure of schools will have a long-term impact on children's education and mental health. The panel concluded that closing schools could have a "lasting impact" on American children.
China has firmly contested the report's conclusions. Beijing responded to the report, saying it had "no credibility" and accusing the United States of using the outbreak for "political manipulation."
"In the absence of any substantive evidence, the so-called US report has concocted leading conclusions, slandered China, and planted false evidence," Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated.
The report comes as the international scientific community has not yet been able to ascertain the origin of COVID-19 with certainty, nearly five years after its emergence. The issue of the pandemic's origin has taken on a geopolitical dimension amid rising tensions with China.
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq