COVID-19 Origins: What We Know and Don't Know

In June 2021, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., had yet to take the committee gavel, but he had concerns about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Green opined on the House floor that for most of the pandemic, anyone who questioned the origin of the virus was dismissed as a conspiracy theorist.

In 2021, there were those who were hesitant to believe that COVID-19 originated from a Chinese laboratory.

Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., a doctor and the top Democrat on the House panel investigating the start of the pandemic, cautioned that the lab leak theory was not yet proven, despite some Republicans promoting it. The Department of Energy and FBI suggested a lab leak was the cause, but most U.S. intelligence agencies believed the virus originated from nature.

"At a July 2023 hearing, Ruiz stated that they do not strongly believe with high confidence that the virus was released from a lab, but they heard that others claim it was. However, Ruiz considered this claim to be a lie."

In 2023, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., contended that Democrats labeled anyone who believed in a lab leak as a conspiracy theorist.

The possibility that a lab leak caused the pandemic is no longer a fringe theory.

Last year, the House COVID committee discovered a message from Dr. David Morens, an associate of Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was the public face of the pandemic response. Fauci recently retired as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

"Tony doesn't want his fingerprints on origin stories," as written by Morens.

In a January 2023 interview on Fox, Fauci stated that the evidence strongly suggests that the virus originated from an animal to human jump.

But Fauci may have tempered those views.

"Fauci clarified to the House coronavirus committee that he has repeatedly stated that he does not believe the idea of a lab leak is a conspiracy theory. He added that what is a conspiracy is the distortion of the narrative that he was parachuted into the CIA and instructed to deny a lab leak."

In 2020, Fauci referenced an article from the British scientific journal Nature while discussing the cause of the pandemic. Currently, the House COVID committee is examining Fauci's communications with the article's authors prior to publication. Some Republicans contend that Fauci utilized the article to deflect criticism regarding a potential lab leak.

This week, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing to investigate the origins of the pandemic.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has long been skeptical of the government's account of what caused the pandemic, and today he is here to examine one of the most contentious and debated questions of our time.

"The experts said the lab leak concept was disinformation, just like the Hunter Biden laptop story," snapped Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.

Dr. Robert Garry, Tulane Medical School Dean, argued in a 2020 Nature article that it was unlikely for a lab leak to cause the pandemic.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo, questioned, "So you’re saying that (idea) came to you overnight?"

"There was new data," replied Garry.

"Did you have a sudden realization that you can now definitively rule out, and you're amazed by it?" Hawley questioned.

"It’s just the scientific method," responded Garry.

Garry maintains that he believes the pandemic originated naturally, but acknowledges that some of the scientific evidence has evolved.

Republican senators criticized Garry about the article, emphasizing the zoonotic origin of the pandemic.

"Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., accused scientists and health agencies of scientific misconduct and fraud, stating that people like them are responsible for eroding public trust in science due to their actions."

"Garry argued that the paper was not fraudulent, stating that they only included information they believed to be true and that the conclusions have been supported by scientific evidence since then."

But even other scientists upbraided Garry.

Dr. Richard Ebright of Rutgers University claimed that publishing a paper with false conclusions is the worst form of scientific misconduct.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology, located near the Wuhan wet market, is the site where some trace the origin of the pandemic.

""One leap from animal to human is possible, and it most likely occurs in a laboratory, specifically the Wuhan Institute of Virology, according to Steven Quay of Atossa Therapeutics and a former Stanford University faculty member," said Quay."

It appears that China is difficult to access information about the pandemic from western investigators.

Gary Peters, D-Mich., the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair, stated that the Chinese government may never fully reveal all the information they possess about the initial COVID-19 outbreak.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., is proposing a commission to investigate the origins of COVID-19, similar to the 9/11 Commission, and has suggested classifying the virus as a bioweapon in the context of national security.

How did the U.S. contribute to this and how can we prevent it from happening again? inquired Marshall.

Some senators acknowledge that the start of COVID many remain a stumper.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, stated, "We may be 98% or less, but we'll always have some uncertainty."

We know for sure that much of the pandemic is uncertain.