The COVID-19 virus probably originated from a lab leak rather than via disease-infected animals, the CIA announced on Saturday.
"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," the statement reportedly read.
However, the agency noted it had "low confidence in this judgment" and it "will continue to evaluate any available credible new intelligence reporting or open-source information that could change CIA’s assessment."
In an exclusive interview with Breitbart last week, the newly appointed director of the CIA, John Ratcliffe, said that one of his priorities would be assessing the origins of the pandemic.
'A day one thing'
“One of the things that I’ve talked about a lot is addressing the threat from China on a number of 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 making an assessment about the origins of COVID," he was cited by the news outlet as saying.
He characterized this attempt as a "day one thing," noting, "I’ve been on record as you know in saying I think our intelligence, our science, and our common sense all really dictates that the origins of COVID was a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology."
However, Ratcliffe noted that the agency had not made such an "assessment publicly."
"So I’m going to focus on that and look at the intelligence and make sure that the public is aware that the agency is going to get off the sidelines.”
Reuters contributed to this report.