White House revamps COVID-19 website; what does new one say
What's the story
The White House has launched a new website supporting the theory that COVID-19 was a human-made virus that leaked from an infectious disease lab in Wuhan, China.
It presented five bullet points to support the lab leak theory.
For example, Wuhan is home to China's "foremost SARS research lab" and has a history of doing research at "inadequate biosafety levels," and Wuhan is also where the first known coronavirus case was reported.
Ongoing investigations
Theories on COVID-19's origin continue to evolve
The move reopens the ongoing debate about what led to the pandemic.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had earlier concluded a lab leak was likely but with "low confidence," similar to conclusions from the Energy and State departments.
The WHO also said it is open to all theories of the virus's origin, including animal-to-human transmission at a Wuhan market.
Theory
Old website had information about vaccines, testing and treatment
However, the new White House website takes the lab leak theory even further than most reports, asserting that "the virus possesses a biological characteristic that is not found in nature."
It also says, "If there was evidence of a natural origin it would have already surfaced. But it hasn't."
The federal website Covid.gov previously shared information about vaccines, testing and treatment.
Mixed reactions
Website change sparks debate among experts
Defending the website's shift, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in a Fox News interview that people want closure on the pandemic and answers about prolonged school closures and vaccine mandates.
"The entire nightmare of COVID for three-plus years was likely entirely avoidable, had we not [been] messing with Mother Nature in a way that they should not have," Makary said.
Echoes
New website echoes House select subcommittee's final report
The new White House website also appears to echo a last-year report by the Republican-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, which determined that the virus came from a lab.
The site lists perceived failures in the COVID-19 response, from lockdowns and mask mandates to funding for infectious disease research and obstruction of congressional investigations by HHS.
It even addresses ex-president Joe Biden's preemptive pardon of retired National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Section
Over 1 million people died of COVID-19
Under a section titled "COVID-19 misinformation," it charged public health officials under the last administration with demonizing "alternative treatments" and working with social media platforms to suppress opposing opinions on the pandemic.
Multiple Trump administration officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr., had criticized the then government's reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak.
COVID-19 and related ailments killed about one million individuals in the United States, with millions more dying around the world.