Trump’s White House launches Covid-19 website pushing China lab leak theory
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The revamped Covid.gov website criticises the pandemic policies implemented under former president Joe Biden.
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM COVID.GOV
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WASHINGTON – The White House on April 18 unveiled a revamped Covid-19 website that promoted the contentious theory that the virus leaked from a Chinese laboratory, framing it as the pandemic’s “true origins”.
The Covid.gov
The site also targets Dr Anthony Fauci, Mr Biden’s former chief medical adviser, for advancing what it calls the “preferred narrative that Covid-19 originated naturally”.
It presents five bullet points aimed at bolstering the lab leak theory, noting that Wuhan, the site of the first known coronavirus case, is also home to China’s “foremost Sars research lab” and has a history of conducting research at “inadequate biosafety levels”.
“By nearly all measures of science, if there was evidence of a natural origin it would have already surfaced. But it hasn’t,” the website said.
The lab-leak theory, once dismissed as a conspiracy theory, has recently gained mainstream traction in the United States.
Even as the debate remains unresolved – scientifically and politically – US agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Energy have come out in support of the theory, albeit with varying levels of confidence.
Earlier in 2025, the Central Intelligence Agency shifted its official stance on the virus’ origin, saying that it was “more likely” leaked from a Chinese lab than transmission from animals.
The assessment drew criticism from China, which said it was “extremely unlikely” Covid-19 came from a laboratory
Beijing also urged the United States to “stop politicising and instrumentalising the issue of origin-tracing”.
The United States and China are currently locked in a major trade war, with Washington announcing on April 17 new port fees for Chinese-linked ships and increased tariffs for Chinese goods.
The revamped White House site, which apparently seeks to redefine the political narrative about Covid-19, also criticised the mask and social distancing mandates introduced at the start of the pandemic in 2020. There is also a map of Wuhan that is animated to throb.
Under a section titled “Covid-19 misinformation”, it also accused public health officials under the previous administration of demonising “alternative treatments” and colluding with social media companies to censor dissenting views about the pandemic – a charge frequently echoed by US conservatives.
Dr Anthony Fauci, former chief medical adviser, testifies before a House Oversight and Reform Select Subcommittee hearing on the coronavirus pandemic, on June 3, 2024.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Biden administration has previously rejected the charge that it was suppressing or censoring conservative perspectives.
The website revamp comes after layoffs began earlier in April at major US health agencies, as the Trump administration embarks on a sweeping and scientifically contested restructuring that will cut 10,000 jobs.
Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr – who has alarmed health experts
More than one million people died of Covid-19 and related illnesses in the United States, and millions more were lost around the world. AFP
