The CIA now assesses the virus that causes Covid-19 more likely originated from an accidental lab leak in China, rather than occurring naturally, according to a statement from the agency Saturday, just days after Director John Ratcliffe took the reins.

The Central Intelligence Agency said Saturday that it’s more likely a lab leak caused the Covid-19 pandemic than an infected animal that spread the virus to people, changing the agency’s yearslong stance that it couldn’t conclude with certainty where the pandemic started.

The assessment released Saturday points at China while acknowledging that the CIA has “low confidence” in its own conclusion.

The Central Intelligence Agency said the Covid-19 pandemic “more likely” originated from a lab leak than a natural source, shifting its stance after previously saying both scenarios were possible.

The intelligence agency says it has a “low confidence” in its new finding, but this is further than it has ever gone in pinpointing the origin of the virus that killed millions worldwide.

The CIA says it has "low confidence" in its assessment that a "research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely."

New CIA director John Ratcliffe has long said he believes the virus most likely emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has assessed that the COVID-19 pandemic is "more likely" to have emerged from a lab rather than from nature, an agency spokesperson said on Saturday (Jan 25). The

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said one of his first priorities was getting his agency to make a public assessment on the pandemic's origins. "That's a day-one thing for me," he said .