Fox News: COVID-19 Originated in Wuhan Lab as Part of Competition with the US

"Exclusive: There is increasing confidence that COVID-19 likely originated in a Wuhan laboratory not as a bioweapon, but as part of China's effort to demonstrate that its efforts to identify and combat viruses are equal to or greater than the capabilities of the United States, multiple sources who have been briefed on the details of early actions by China's government and seen relevant materials tell Fox News," reads the article recently published by the leading American edition Fox News, written by By Bret Baier and Gregg Re. 

"The sources believe the initial transmission of the virus was bat-to-human, and that "patient zero" worked at the laboratory, then went into the population in Wuhan," the authors of the publication emphasized. 

The article further tells that this “increasing confidence” comes from classified and open-source documents and evidence. Fox News has requested to see the evidence directly.

Asked by Fox News' John Roberts about the reporting, President Trump remarked at Wednesday's coronavirus press briefing, "More and more we're hearing the story...we are doing a very thorough examination of this horrible situation."

"Documents detail early efforts by doctors at the lab and early efforts at containment. The Wuhan wet market initially identified as a possible point of origin never sold bats, and the sources tell Fox News that blaming the wet market was an effort by China to deflect blame from the laboratory, along with the country's propaganda efforts targeting the US and Italy," the authors note. 

“Even today, I see them withholding information and I think we need to do more to continue to press them to share,” Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told “America’s Newsroom" on Wednesday, referring to China. Esper added that he wouldn't speak to "intelligence reporting," but that "most people believe it began naturally -- it was organic if you will. I think in due course, once we get through the pandemic we're in right now, there'll be time to look back and really ascertain what happened and make sure we have a better understanding so we can prevent this in the future."

Speaking to "The Story" Wednesday evening, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo remarked: "What we do know is that this virus originated in Wuhan, China. We know there is the Wuhan Institute of Virology just a handful of miles away from where the wet market was. There is still lots to learn. You should know that the United States government is working diligently to figure it out."

China "100%" suppressed data and changed data, the sources tell Fox News. Samples were destroyed,  contaminated areas scrubbed, some early reports erased, and academic articles stifled.

The sources tell Fox News the World Health Organization (WHO) was complicit from the beginning in helping China cover its tracks.