NEW YORK, June 3. /TASS/. There are currently no evidence that the novel coronavirus was leaked from a laboratory in China, but this possibility should not be ruled out completely, Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, said in an interview for Fox News.
The specialist noted that some suggested earlier that the coronavirus was created during development of biological weapons.
"That doesn't fit with what we know about this particular viral genome," Collins underscored.
He also pointed out that some speculated that the virus began to spread from a Chinese laboratory where it was studied due to a mistake.
"I never rejected that one, although there was no evidence to support it," the official said.
"Let's just be clear here," Collins said. "I don't think we know what happened in Wuhan. It is possible there was a lab leak. But again, that's an extraordinary claim. What we need then is to have an evidence-based, expert-driven investigation."
In late May, US President Joe Biden stated that the US intelligence community does not have enough information to state with certainty how has the coronavirus spread begun: with a human-to-animal contact or with a possible incident in a Chinese laboratory. The president ordered the intelligence agencies to double their efforts to examine all available data and provide a new report in 90 days.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that such order indicates that the US does not care about facts and truth, is not interested in a serious, scientific research of the coronavirus origin, and uses the pandemic as a tool of political manipulation and finger-pointing.