Germany’s foreign intelligence service, the BND, has reached a conclusion suggesting that the global outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 might have been caused by an accidental incident at a Chinese laboratory involved in virus research, according to reports from German media.
Gatekeepers News reports the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in millions of deaths worldwide and has had lasting implications for global economies and social stability.
The BND’s findings, reported by the Süddeutsche Zeitung and Zeit, were based on an analysis of publicly available information and material gathered during an investigation dubbed “Saaremaa.”
This investigation focused on the Wuhan Institute of Virology, situated in the city believed to be the pandemic’s origin. The assessment highlighted concerns about risky research practices and violations of laboratory safety protocols at the facility.
Evidence indicates that researchers at the Wuhan Institute may have conducted gain-of-function experiments, which involve manipulating viruses found in nature. Such experiments can alter a virus’s capacity to cause disease, its transmissibility, and the range of hosts it can infect. Additionally, there were reports of multiple breaches of safety regulations within the lab.
According to the BND, their conclusions were formed as early as 2020, with a likelihood rating of 80% to 95%. However, this assessment was not made public at that time.
Meanwhile, China has consistently denied allegations that the outbreak of COVID-19 originated from a laboratory in Wuhan. However, in January, the United States intelligence community, particularly the CIA, suggested that it also believes the coronavirus responsible for the pandemic, identified as SARS-CoV-2, likely originated in a lab. They noted, though, that they held “low confidence” in this conclusion. Similarly, in March 2023, the FBI echoed these sentiments.
Another theory suggests that the pandemic initially emerged in late 2019 from a market in Wuhan that sold meat from wild animals.
