United States allies tread lightly around Trump virus laboratory claims

While the Trump administration has publicly pressed the line that the coronavirus outbreak originated in a lab accident in China, some of its close allies are more mindful.

UK authorities think it is not possible to be definitely sure about the origins but point to scientific viewpoint suggesting the most likely scenario is that it was from a live animal market. They include that it is difficult to rule out the theory of an accidental release from a laboratory without a full examination.

Their view echoes talk about Tuesday by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who said: “We can’t dismiss any of these arrangements … but the most likely has actually remained in a wildlife wet market.”

In the United States, the intelligence community has actually likewise been more careful in its public position than its political leaders and, last week, it issued a carefully worded statement.

It said that it concurred with the “wide clinical agreement” that Covid-19 was not manufactured or genetically modified. It then included it would “continue to carefully take a look at emerging information