Report: German spy agency says coronavirus was likely leaked from lab

In 2020, Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service reportedly assessed that there was an 80 to 90 percent probability that the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic was accidentally released from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology.

According to German newspaper Sueddeutscher Zeitung, the spy agency had indications that the institute had conducted gain-of-function experiments, where viruses were modified to become more transmissible to humans for research purposes.

The paper said the agency also had indications that numerous violations of safety regulations had occurred at the lab.

The agency’s assessment was based on publicly available data and on an unpublished intelligence operation code-named “Saaremaa” commissioned by the office of Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor at the time.

The newspaper said although unpublished, the assessment was, however, shared with the United States Central Intelligence Agency in 2024.

Meanwhile, China’s government says it has taken part in research to determine COVID-19’s origin, adding that there is “no credibility” to claims that a laboratory leak likely caused the pandemic.

The Chinese government also accused the United States of politicising the matter.

Last month, China’s foreign ministry said the Wuhan Institute of Virology never carried out any gain-of-function research on coronaviruses and that it was not involved in the creation or leakage of the COVID-19 virus.