Republicans on House panel ask CDC to determine if COVID-19 was in U.S. earlier than reported

Republicans on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce are asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate early possible COVID-19 cases and blood work in the U.S. to determine whether the virus was present in the country earlier than current estimates. 

Specifically, committee Republicans sent a letter to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky asking the CDC to use the most accurate tests available to test more blood samples from 2019 and investigate early unexplained deaths to determine if the virus was in the country earlier than December 13, 2019. The request is part of committee Republicans' investigation into the origins of COVID-19.  The Chinese government hasn't been forthright with U.S. and international probes, and the GOP lawmakers reason that a better understanding of when cases first arrived in the U.S. will help investigators better determine an origin timeline in China. Committee Republicans are particularly interested in whether an accidental lab leak led to the COVID-19 outbreak that has caused the deaths of millions worldwide.