Covid-19 lab leak theory. Credit: Alexandra_Koch, Pixabay
The Trump administration has redirected key public health websites, Covid.gov and Covidtests.gov, to a new federal page promoting the Covid-19 lab leak theory.
The website states that Covid-19 originated from a lab in Wuhan, China – not a wet market, as many scientists still believe. The move has reignited fierce debate over the pandemic’s origins and intensified geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China.
Covid public health sites now promote lab leak theory
Both websites now redirect users to a White House URL titled “Lab Leak: The True Origins of Covid-19” (WhiteHouse.gov). According to the site:
‘The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2 publication — which was used repeatedly by public health officials and the media to discredit the lab leak theory — was prompted by Dr. Fauci to push the preferred narrative that COVID-19 originated naturally.’
It also claims that Covid-19 possesses ‘a biological characteristic that is not found in nature’, and that ‘data shows that all COVID-19 cases stem from a single introduction into humans’ – a feature it claims differs from previous pandemics which involved multiple spillover events.
A senior administration official told Fox News:
“This administration prioritizes transparency over all else. The American people deserve to know the truth about the Covid pandemic.” (Cited by The Guardian.)
What do scientists say about Covid’s origin?
While lab leak theories have gained momentum in political circles, much of the scientific community continues to support the natural spillover hypothesis. As recently as August 2024, researchers writing in the Journal of Virology said the ‘weight of evidence favors a spillover event’ – but they remain open-minded and admit that a definitive origin may never be known, as reported by The Guardian.
Meanwhile, a CIA assessment in January 2025 reportedly found the lab origin theory more likely than a natural one, but only with “low confidence.”
The U.S. House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic also concluded in December 2024: ‘A lab-related incident involving gain-of-function research is the most likely origin of COVID-19.’ (Cited by Newsweek).
China accuses U.S. of politicising the pandemic
China’s foreign ministry has denounced the Trump administration’s website as a political stunt.
“Rehashing the ‘lab leak’ theory on relevant website and smearing China with unsubstantiated accusations is just another ploy the U.S. uses for political manipulation under the pretext of COVID origins-tracing,”
said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun during a press briefing, quoted by Newsweek.
He also revived the widely dismissed claim that Covid-19 may have started at Fort Detrick, a U.S. Army lab in Maryland, and referenced the 2019 vaping lung disease outbreak as a possible starting point.
The lab leak theory’s resurgence comes as Trump vows to revive U.S. manufacturing and pressure China in trade talks. Critics argue the pandemic’s origin is being used as leverage in broader geopolitical and economic battles.
The new White House page also challenges earlier public health guidance. It claims:
‘The ‘6 feet apart’ social distancing recommendation… was arbitrary and not based on science. During closed-door testimony, Dr Fauci testified that the guidance ‘sort of just appeared’.
Where did Covid-19 come from?
We still don’t know for sure. Here’s what we do know, according to the various sources:
- Wuhan Institute of Virology conducted gain-of-function research on coronaviruses
- Wuhan is home to both the lab and the wet market linked to early outbreaks
- U.S. intelligence and science bodies disagree on the virus’s origin
- Transparency from China remains limited
- No conclusive evidence has yet confirmed either theory
So, what do you think? Is the world any closer to the truth?
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