US spies find no evidence Covid-19 was man-made

US SPY agencies have concluded that the Covid-19 virus that has infected more than three million people around the world was not man-made.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence revealed yesterday that it had examined the unsubstantiated theory that the new coronavirus had been developed by Chinese scientists in a government biological weapons laboratory. However, no evidence was found.

“The intelligence community concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the Covid-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified,” it said, adding that it was still examining whether the origins of the pandemic trace back to contact with infected animals or an accident at a Chinese lab.

Senior US officials have pushed intelligence agencies to hunt for evidence to support the theory as they escalate a public campaign to blame China for the outbreak, according to The New York Times. The Chinese government has denied that the virus leaked from a lab while suggesting the American military created it.

Virology experts believe the virus was most likely to have been introduced naturally into a meat market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the first case was reported.

Donald Trump, the president, and his administration have sharpened rhetoric on China as it faces growing criticism of mismanaging the crisis in the US, which has a third of all cases globally. He said this week that the US could bill China for substantial damages due to the virus.

Mr Trump, contradicting the conclusion reached by his spy agencies, said he had seen evidence that pointed to the Wuhan Institute of Virology being the origin of the virus. When asked by reporters to elaborate, Mr Trump said: “I am not allowed to tell you.”