Joe Biden has asked US intelligence services to urgently investigate the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, including the possibility that it began with an accident in a laboratory. The Guardian’s Peter Beaumont looks at the available evidence
When Covid-19 first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan, much of the focus of the initial investigation fell on a seafood market that also sold exotic animals for human consumption. But in the months since, no definitive link has been proven and the precise origin story remains unsolved.
In the intervening period numerous conspiracy theories have spread: that somehow 5G phone signals could be involved, or that the virus is a hoax. Bracketed in with these was a theory that Covid-19 may have been released (accidentally or otherwise) from a lab.
