COVID-19 leaked from Wuhan lab in China, claims report by US Republican report

House Republican lawmaker, Michael McCaul, released the third instalment in his investigation into the origins of the virus and the missteps by China in alerting the world to the risks of the pandemic.

Washington: A United States Republican lawmaker`s report investigating the origins of COVID-19 released on Monday has concluded that the pandemic outbreak stemmed from a genetically modified virus that leaked from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology, first detected in December 2019. House Republican lawmaker, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the third instalment in his investigation into the origins of the virus and the missteps by China in alerting the world to the risks of the pandemic, reported The Hill. McCaul, in statements alongside the release of the report, has called for Congress to pass legislation sanctioning scientists at the Wuhan lab and Chinese Communist Party officials who were determined to have obstructed efforts to respond to the pandemic quickly and effectively. The GOP investigation parallels efforts by the Biden administration and the international community to determine the origins of the pandemic outbreak, which has killed more than 4.2 million people across the world, infected nearly 200 million and upended global stability.