Since the pandemic began in late 2019, scientists and the public have been discussing and wondering where the outbreak started. COVID-19 began to take over in the first few months of 2020. Since then, it has caused severe damage, with an estimated 8 million deaths and around 700 million confirmed cases worldwide.
The debate on how the virus started remains unresolved, but the government and scientists believe it came from nature or a lab outbreak. As researchers continue to investigate, the lab leak theory has gained much attention, prompting serious discussions about global biosecurity, geopolitical tensions, and scientific ethics.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) is one of China’s leading laboratories studying the coronavirus. Some of their research included gain-of-function (GOF) studies, which involve manipulating viruses to ensure their corruption or virulence to understand the potential to cause pandemics.
People at the CIA have been saying, “CIA assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely than a natural origin based on the available body of reporting,” a CIA spokesperson said in a statement. “CIA continues to assess that both research-related and natural origin scenarios of the COVID-19 pandemic remain plausible.”
The CIA thinks that instead of Cvoid being a naturally occurring thing from an animal or food, they think it is from a lab outbreak caused by accident. The CIA are still researching this topic but not much is being shown about it now.
The CIA then says, “I’ve been on record, as you know, in saying I think our intelligence, science, and common sense all dictate that the origins of COVID were a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” he said. “But the CIA has not made that assessment or at least not made that assessment publicly. So I’m going to focus on that, look at the intelligence, and ensure that the public knows the agency will get off the sidelines.”
Scientists are still studying the outbreak even it being five years later. Scientists want a for-sure answer rather than a theory on what they believe it is, so they will keep researching and finding more evidence and information to make sure they are right and not just guessing
Experts still believe COVID-19 is a virus that came from animals like bats and jumped to humans naturally, as other viruses similar to this have happened before. Yes, there is no clear proof that COVID-19 was intentionally created or released, but investigations are still ongoing to fully understand its origins.
BBC News also talks about where it originated from, “One of the things that I’ve talked about a lot is addressing the threat from China on several fronts, and that goes back to why a million Americans died and why the Central Intelligence Agency has been sitting on the sidelines for five years in not assessing the origins of Covid.”
All the people at BBC News still have theories that the coronavirus came from a lab outbreak but they are not for sure as they need sure evidence and as of now they do not have that. So, for now, they will think it is a lab outbreak, but it is known for coming from an animal like a bat.
This pandemic will forever haunt the people who had to suffer through it, especially the ones who were severely damaged by COVID-19. Being on lockdown for 3-6 months is not something anyone should go through especially all the younger kids who were not even allowed to go outside when the lockdown started.
2020 was a very difficult time for everyone of all ages and it made a major impact on their social lives, from being locked away from everyone besides family for months. Aside from being away from family and friends, traveling was not an option at all. All traveling for months was not allowed, and when they did start accepting people to travel, they would make them get the COVID-19 Vaccine. Some people did not want to get the vaccine and for them to travel they would have to get the vaccine.
Yes, COVID-19 was a very unfortunate event of the 21st century, impacting nearly every aspect of life. While it caused bad suffering, it also led to scientific breakthroughs, advancements, technology, and a better aspect of public health. As the world recovers, it is crucial to apply the lessons learned to ensure a more active response to future pandemics.
