BRITISH intelligence believe it is “feasible” that Covid leaked from a Wuhan lab as questions remain unanswered on the origins of the pandemic.
UK operatives are now investigating a potential virus escape from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) as a bombshell report claimed yesterday the virus may have been “engineered”.
A scientist at the the Wuhan Institute of Virology – the lab at the centre of the bombshell theory[/caption]
Chinese scientists found a virus 96 per cent similar to Covid-19 in the anus of a horseshoe bat[/caption]
Theories of a potential lab leak had initially been dismissed by many as a “conspiracy theory”, but circumstantial evidence is now mounting as US President Joe Biden ordered “redoubled investigation”.
British intelligence has reportedly recently assessed the theory and concluded they consider it “feasible”, reports The Times.
It comes after it emerged yesterday Brit spies are helping their US counterparts in the mounting probe.
“There might be pockets of evidence that take us one way, and evidence that takes us another way.” a source said.
“The Chinese will lie either way. I don’t think we will ever know.”
And US sources added there are serious concerns that if the origin of the virus cannot be identified there could be another pandemic.
“This could happen again and we are one wet market or bio lab away from the next spillover,” one said.
British MPs are continuing to demand a fresh investigation, after first calling for one when speaking to The Sun Online back in January.
Tin Tugendhat MP, chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, said: “The silence coming from Wuhan is troubling.
“We need to open the crypt and see what happened to be able to protect ourselves in the future.
“That means starting an investigation, along with partners around the world and in the WHO.”
It also emerged last week that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had been briefed on the possibility of a Wuhan lab leak as early as April 2020.
What do we know about the Wuhan Institute of Virology?
THE Wuhan Institute of Virology is the highest security lab of its kind in all of China – and can be found right at the heart of the origins of the pandemic.
Various theories have been reported about the lab, which is headed up by scientist Dr Shi Zhengli, known as “Bat Woman”.
The lab specialises in bat-borne viruses and had been carrying out experiences on them since 2015.
Airlocks, full body suits, and chemical showers are required before entering and leaving the facility – the first in China to be accredited with biosafety level 4 (BSL-4).
BSL-4 labs are the only areas in the world where scientists are permitted to study diseases that have no cure.
Scientists from the lab even tested a mysterious virus which killed three miners 1,000 miles away in Yunnan province back in 2012.
It has been suggested this fatal bug may have been the true origin of Covid-19.
Experts at the lab also engineered a new type of hybrid ‘super-virus’ that can infect humans in 2015, according to journal Nature Medicine
The study was designed to show the risk of viruses carried by bats which could be transmitted to humans.
There is no suggestion the facility’s 2015 work is linked to the pandemic and the facility denies the lab leak claims.
The lab was also recruiting new scientists to probe coronaviruses in bats just seven days before the outbreak.
A senior Whitehall source told Telegraph that British officials are working with the new US probe into the killer outbreak.
They said: “We are contributing what intelligence we have on Wuhan, as well as offering to help the American to corroborate and analyse any intelligence they have that we can assist with.
“What is required to establish the truth behind the coronavirus outbreak is well-sourced intelligence rather than informed analysis, and that is difficult to come by.”
WIV specialises in bat coronaviruses – and is located just a stones throw from the Huannan Seafood Market, where the virus was first found.
Studies show that one of the viruses collected by the lab’s scientists from a mine is a 96.2 per cent match for SARS-CoV-2 which causes Covid-19.
The virus originated from the anus of a horseshoe bat.
SECRET ORIGIN
According to reports, four teams collected samples in the cave after miners working there fell ill in 2012.
The Chinese scientists reportedly found nine viruses in the mine which were sent to the WIV.
Britain and the US have both been critical of the probe carried out by the World Health Organisation which dismissed the lab leak theory.
It has since been claimed that Beijing withheld data and samples from WHO investigators during their visit to Wuhan in January.
This month, 18 of the world’s top scientists wrote a letter published in the journal Science calling an independent inquiry into the leak claims.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology is suspected of being the source of the leak[/caption] 
This week it emerged that three Wuhan lab staff became sick and needed hospital care weeks before China disclosed the virus outbreak to the world.
Citing a bombshell US intelligence report, the Wall Street Journal said the dossier revealed fresh details on the number of researchers affected.
It also shows the timing of their illnesses and their hospital visits in November 2019, when China officially detected the outbreak.
Meanwhile, Dr Anthony Fauci recently admitted he was “not convinced” Covid developed naturally.