White House: Lab Leak: The True Origins of Covid-19, By Chris Knight (Florida) and Brian Simpson

On April 18, 2025, the White House revamped its Covid-19 website, replacing resources on testing, vaccines, and treatment with a new page titled "Lab Leak: The True Origins of COVID-19." This promotes the theory that the virus originated from a lab leak in Wuhan, China, marking a significant shift in official messaging. The move aligns with recent mainstream traction of the lab-leak hypothesis, which had been dismissed as a conspiracy theory early in the pandemic but gained credibility over time, especially after a January 2025 CIA assessment favoured it as the most likely origin. The White House's endorsement also criticises the previous administration, alleging suppression of debate on the virus's origins by figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci and former President Joe Biden.

The natural origins theory hinges on zoonotic transmission, typically through an intermediate host like bats or pangolins. Early in the pandemic, the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan was identified as a potential epicentre due to its role in wildlife trade. However, no definitive animal host has been identified despite extensive testing. A 2021 WHO-China joint study found no SARS-CoV-2 in over 80,000 animal samples from China, and subsequent genomic studies, such as a 2023 analysis in Nature, failed to trace a clear zoonotic pathway. The virus's closest known relative, a bat coronavirus called RaTG13, shares 96.2% genetic similarity, but the evolutionary gap—estimated at decades—lacks intermediate strains. Moreover, the market's role has been questioned: a 2022 study in Science suggested early cases were linked to the market, but later analyses, including a 2024 preprint, found that many initial cases had no direct market connection, weakening the spill over narrative.

Technical problems extend to the virus's features. SARS-CoV-2's spike protein has a furin cleavage site, a rare trait in coronaviruses that enhances human infectivity. A 2023 study in Cell noted that this feature is unlikely to have evolved naturally in a market setting, as it requires specific genetic conditions rarely seen in wild coronaviruses. Additionally, the virus's early stability—lacking the rapid mutations typical of zoonotic adaptation—has led some, like molecular biologist Alina Chan, to argue it was "pre-adapted" for human transmission, a trait more consistent with lab manipulation. These issues have eroded confidence in the natural origins hypothesis, with critics like evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein calling it "increasingly implausible" absent new evidence.

The lab-leak hypothesis, meanwhile, has gained traction due to circumstantial evidence. The Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), located near the outbreak's epicentre, was known to conduct gain-of-function research on coronaviruses, including projects funded by the U.S. via EcoHealth Alliance. A 2024 House Republican report revealed WIV's history of biosafety lapses, and a January 2025 CIA assessment concluded the lab-leak scenario was the most likely origin, citing intelligence about sick researchers at WIV in late 2019. The FBI and Energy Department had already leaned toward this theory in 2023, though with varying confidence levels.

The natural origins view's technical problems—lack of an animal host, missing evolutionary links, and the virus's unusual features—have indeed weakened its standing, lending credence to the lab-leak theory's rise. The White House's move aligns with a Western trend of questioning pandemic narratives, and at long last rightfully points a finger at China for giving the world the Wuhan flu as Trump put it. China must be made accountable for this, even with US involvement.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/18/politics/white-house-covid-lab-leak-website/index.html

https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/gain-of-function-ban-nears-as-white

By Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

If you type COVID.gov into your web browser, it will take you to a new official White House webpage that reaffirms what we've known for years:

THE ORIGIN

"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.

1.

The virus possesses a biological characteristic that is not found in nature.

2.

Data shows that all COVID-19 cases stem from a single introduction into humans. This runs contrary to previous pandemics where there were multiple spillover events.

3.

Wuhan is home to China's foremost SARS research lab, which has a history of conducting gain-of-function research (gene altering and organism supercharging) at inadequate biosafety levels.

4.

Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) researchers were sick with COVID-like symptoms in the fall of 2019, months before COVID-19 was discovered at the wet market.

5.

By nearly all measures of science, if there was evidence of a natural origin it would have already surfaced. But it hasn't.

In my opinion, the best part of this page is that they acknowledge the suppression and censorship of life-saving information:

COVID-19 MISINFORMATION:

Public health officials often mislead the American people through conflicting messaging, knee-jerk reactions, and a lack of transparency. Most egregiously, the federal government demonized alternative treatments and disfavored narratives, such as the lab leak theory, in a shameful effort to coerce and control the American people's health decisions.

When those efforts failed, the Biden Administration resorted to "outright censorship—coercing and colluding with the world's largest social media companies to censor all COVID-19-related dissent."

This development comes as a widely circulating Daily Caller article reports:

President Donald Trump could sign a sweeping executive order banning gain-of-function research — research that makes viruses more dangerous in the lab — as soon as May 6.

The executive order will take a broad strokes approach, banning research amplifying the infectivity or pathogenicity of any virulent and replicable pathogen, according to the source, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the anticipated executive action.

We can only hope that this is indeed true, as it would represent a critical step in preventing another man-made pandemic and a major win for humanity.

Unfortunately, the new COVID.gov webpage fails to mention the catastrophic fallout from the COVID-19 mRNA injections. The next step should be to acknowledge the largest mass casualty event in American history since the Civil War — so we can finally begin to reverse the immense damage inflicted on millions of innocent people.