Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden Demands More Intel Into Lab Vs. Animal Theories On Covid Origins
CNBC: Biden Orders Review Of Covid Origins As Intel Weighs Wuhan Lab Leak Theory
President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he has ordered a closer intelligence review of what he said were two equally plausible scenarios of the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. Biden revealed that earlier this year he tasked the intelligence community with preparing “a report on their most up-to-date analysis of the origins of Covid-19, including whether it emerged from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory accident.” (Wilkie and Mendez, 5/26)
AP: Biden Orders More Intel Investigation Of COVID-19 Origin
After months of minimizing that possibility as a fringe theory, the Biden administration is joining worldwide pressure for China to be more open about the outbreak, aiming to head off GOP complaints the president has not been tough enough as well as to use the opportunity to press China on alleged obstruction. ... Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have promoted the theory that the virus emerged from a laboratory accident rather than naturally through human contact with an infected animal in Wuhan, China. (Miller and Madhani, 5/26)
NPR: Biden Asks U.S. Intel To Push For Stronger Conclusions On The Coronavirus' Origins
In a statement, Biden said the intelligence community has "coalesced around two likely scenarios" — that the coronavirus either came from human contact with an infected animal, or from a laboratory accident in Wuhan, China. He said most intelligence entities don't believe there's sufficient information to reach a conclusion about the virus' origins, and the three intel entities that lean toward one explanation or another only have "low or moderate confidence" in their conclusions. (Wise, 5/26)
CNN: The Origin Of Covid Is Now An Intelligence Operation
[President Joe Biden] wants the intelligence community to cooperate with other elements of the government, but getting to the bottom of how this disease occurred, at least in the eyes of the President dealing with obstruction from China, is now fully an intelligence operation. But that order likely poses a complicated challenge for intelligence agencies, which, as CNN has repeatedly reported, are limited in their ability to confidently answer the question of what actually happened. While the intelligence community has been actively engaged on the issue since it broke, Biden's order is a public call for more, despite the fact that it has been unable to make significant progress for more than a year. (Zachary B. Wolf, 5/26)
Nature: Divisive COVID ‘Lab Leak’ Debate Prompts Dire Warnings From Researchers
Calls to investigate Chinese laboratories have reached a fever pitch in the United States, as Republican leaders allege that the coronavirus causing the pandemic was leaked from one, and as some scientists argue that this ‘lab leak’ hypothesis requires a thorough, independent inquiry. But for many researchers, the tone of the growing demands is unsettling. They say the volatility of the debate could thwart efforts to study the virus’s origins. (Maxmen, 5/26)
Politico: Facebook No Longer Treating 'Man-Made' Covid As A Crackpot Idea
Facebook will no longer take down posts claiming that Covid-19 was man-made or manufactured, a company spokesperson told POLITICO on Wednesday, a move that acknowledges the renewed debate about the virus’ origins. A narrative in flux: Facebook’s policy tweak arrives as support surges in Washington for a fuller investigation into the origins of Covid-19 after the Wall Street Journal reported that three scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were hospitalized in late 2019 with symptoms consistent with the virus. The findings have reinvigorated the debate about the so-called Wuhan lab-leak theory, once dismissed as a fringe conspiracy theory. (Lima, 5/26)
CNBC: Republicans Call For Fauci's Termination Over Shifting Position On Wuhan Lab Funding
Dr. Anthony Fauci is facing increasing calls from Republican lawmakers for his termination over what they say is a shift in his position on whether the U.S. government funded research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Fauci, the chief medical advisor to the White House, told lawmakers Tuesday that the National Institutes of Health funded the Wuhan Institute of Virology through the nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance with $600,000 over a period of five years. Funding to the nonprofit was eventually halted by the NIH. (Mendez, 5/26)
