WASHINGTON, June 24. /TASS/. Employees of the Wuhan Institute of Virology were working on genetic engineering, but the US intelligence has no proof that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was used in these experiments, says the declassified intelligence report, presented by the US Office of National Intelligence Director to the US Congress Friday.

"We assess that some scientists at the WIV have genetically engineered coronaviruses using common laboratory practices. The [intelligence community] has no information, however, indicating that any WIV genetic engineering work has involved SARS-CoV-2, a close progenitor, or a backbone virus that is closely-related enough to have been the source of the pandemic," says the report.

The authors acknowledge that some WIV employees "probably did not use adequate biosafety precautions at least some of the time prior to the pandemic in handling SARS-like coronaviruses," which increased the risk of contagion.

The intelligence community acknowledges that the WIV was training its employees in safety measures prior to the Covid pandemic.

"In November 2019, the WIV, in cooperation with other CAS entities, hosted a biosafety training course for WIV and non-WIV personnel that included speakers from the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Given the timing of the event, this training appears routine, rather than a response to a specific incident," the report says.

The document was presented in connection to the congressional bill, signed by US President Joe Biden, which obliged the executive branch to declassify available information on the coronavirus origin.