Covid-19 likely came from lab leak, says news report citing US energy department

Updated finding comes with low confidence' and is a departure from previous studies on how virus emerged, Wall Street Journal reports

The virus that drove the Covid-19 pandemic most likely emerged from a laboratory leak but not as part of a weapons program, according to an updated and classified 2021 US energy department study provided to the White House and senior American lawmakers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

The department's finding - a departure from previous studies on how the virus emerged - came in an update to a document from the office of national intelligence director, Avril Haines, the WSJ reported. It follows a finding reportedly issued with moderate confidence" by the FBI that the virus spread after leaking out of a Chinese laboratory.