Biden says he's asked intelligence community to "redouble" efforts in examining origins of COVID-19

Washington — President Biden said Wednesday he has ordered the U.S. intelligence community to "redouble" its efforts to investigate the origins of COVID-19 after a new report fueled questions about whether the virus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China.

Mr. Biden said in a statement he is giving the intelligence community 90 days to "collect and analyze information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion" about where COVID-19 started and report back to him. As part of the requested report, the president asked for areas of additional inquiry that may be required, including specific questions for China. Mr. Biden said the effort will include work by Department of Energy's National Labs and other government agencies to supplement the intelligence community in its investigation.  Mr. Biden said he received a report from the intelligence community earlier this month exploring whether COVID-19 emerged from human contact with an infected animal or through a laboratory accident, but the agencies are split.