Fauci doubted wet market as COVID-19 origin in early 2020
What's the story
Former White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci privately doubted that the COVID-19 outbreak started at the Wuhan wet market in January 2020, according to his diary entries released in a congressional investigation. In a January 26, 2020 entry, Fauci wrote that "now we know the market was not the source" of the outbreak but an "amplifier." He said early infections were linked to this market and spread before China acknowledged a new infection.
Public stance
Discrepancy raises questions about public trust
Despite his private doubts, Fauci publicly maintained the Wuhan wet market was the likely origin of COVID-19 for a long time.
In April 2020, he called the pandemic a "direct result" of close interactions between animals and humans at this market.
This discrepancy has led to accusations that Fauci misled the public and influenced policy by withholding critical information.
Private worries
Concerns about potential bioengineering
Fauci's diary entries also reveal his private concerns about the nature of COVID-19.
In emails previously published by The Intercept and The Nation, he expressed deep concern about the nature of the virus and a desire to alert the FBI and MI5, following a conversation with Kristian Andersen, who suspected it might be bioengineered.
These emails were sent after a conversation with biologist Kristian Andersen, who noted inconsistencies in the virus's genetic structure with natural evolution.
Origin debate
Discussions on virus's origin
On February 2, 2020, Wellcome Trust Director Jeremy Farrar was undecided about the virus' origin. Virologists Michael Farzan and Edward Holmes leaned toward a lab origin.
Despite these discussions, Fauci and others publicly supported a natural origin for SARS-CoV-2 in their influential paper "The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2."
This paper helped create consensus around a natural origin, even as no animal source or location of the species jump has been identified.