FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ODNI News Release No. 19-21
May 27, 2021
ODNI Statement on COVID-19 Origins
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Strategic Communications Amanda Schoch today issued the following statement on COVID-19 Origins:
“The U.S. Intelligence Community does not know exactly where, when, or how the COVID-19 virus was transmitted initially but has coalesced around two likely scenarios: either it emerged naturally from human contact with infected animals or it was a laboratory accident. While two elements of the IC lean toward the former scenario and one leans more toward the latter -- each with low or moderate confidence -- the majority of elements within the IC do not believe there is sufficient information to assess one to be more likely than the other. The IC continues to examine all available evidence, consider different perspectives, and aggressively collect and analyze new information to identify the virus's origins.”
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