NEW DELHI: Years after the Covid pandemic devastated the world, a US inquiry has concluded that the coronavirus likely leaked from a Chinese laboratory.
The two-year-long investigation into the outbreak that killed 1.1 million Americans by the Republican-led House Select Subcommittee on the Pandemic made the conclusion on Monday (Dec 2). It backs the theory that the Covid-19 virus likely originated from a laboratory accident in Wuhan, China, where it first emerged. 

The 520-page report reviewed the federal and state-level responses, the virus' origins, and vaccination efforts.

In a letter to the US Congress, panel chairperson Brad Wenstrup said: "This work will help the United States, and the world, predict the next pandemic, prepare for the next pandemic, protect ourselves from the next pandemic, and hopefully prevent the next pandemic."

The report supports the lab leak hypothesis, which posits that SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind Covid-19, escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
According to AFP news agency, the panel reached its conclusion after 25 meetings, over 30 interviews, and a review of more than one million documents.  
  
The investigation included testimony from Dr Anthony Fauci, the Former Chief Medical Advisor to the President of the United States. Republicans blame the 83-year-old immunologist for the pandemic and allege that he funded Chinese scientists who engineered the virus. Fauci, however, denies allegations of a cover-up. Appearing before the panel in June, he asserted that it was "molecularly impossible" for the bat viruses studied in Wuhan to be engineered into SARS-CoV-2.
Despite that, the panel's report said SARS-CoV-2 "likely emerged because of a laboratory or research-related accident."
   
The report accused the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of funding "gain-of-function" research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. This type of research enhances viruses to better understand potential threats.

The subcommittee found that key public health measures like lockdowns caused "more harm than good." 

It said that mask mandates were "ineffective at controlling the spread" of COVID-19, and even slammed social distancing guidelines. These conclusions contradict other studies that show such measures helped curb virus transmission. 
The Republican report also said Operation Warp Speed, the Trump-era initiative to fast-track vaccine development, was a "tremendous success."