“Covid Was Leaked?” The Internet Reacts to New White House Claims About Covid-19 Origins

• The White House released documents pushing the lab leak theory, reigniting one of the biggest debates since the Covid-19 pandemic began
• Dr Anthony Fauci was called before a Republican-led committee on 29 July but declined to answer questions, pleading the Fifth
• The World Health Organisation and leading virologists maintain that evidence points to an animal-origin spillover, not a lab leak

Fresh claims from the White House about the origins of Covid-19 have sent the internet into a frenzy. After a batch of documents was released by the Trump administration, old questions about whether the virus leaked from a laboratory are back at the centre of public debate.

The Trump administration has long backed the lab leak theory, pointing to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China as the source of the outbreak. In 2025, US government websites that once carried Covid-19 health information were replaced with a page titled ‘LAB LEAK: The True Origins of COVID-19.’ The city of Wuhan is where the first known cases of the virus were recorded.

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Fauci pleads the fifth

According to the @itvnews page, Dr Anthony Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022, was called to appear before a Republican-led committee on 29 July but declined to answer questions, choosing instead to plead the fifth. Senator Rand Paul, who has been one of Fauci's most vocal critics, squared off with him during a Senate hearing, pressing him on the origins of the coronavirus. Fauci has consistently supported the animal-to-human transmission theory.

What the science says

Supporters of the lab leak theory argue that scientists were working with incomplete data provided by the Chinese government and that no infected animal from the Wuhan market has ever been identified. Some US intelligence agencies have expressed a low-to-moderate confidence in the accidental lab leak theory.

However, virologists who specialise in pandemic origins say the evidence pointing to an animal origin is ‘very convincing’ and ‘overwhelming.’ A June 2025 World Health Organisation report concluded that the available evidence "suggests zoonotic spillover, either directly from bats or through an intermediate host." That finding came after three years of research by 27 scientists on the WHO's Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens. A 2024 study published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell also found multiple lines of evidence supporting the animal origin theory.

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Watch the TikTok video below:

The internet debate on truth vs conspiracy theories

The internet, however, is not waiting for scientists to settle the debate.

Mlp212 said:

"We knew this in 2020; how is this news?"

Katelynnwoods11 asked:

"Leaked? Or released?"

Azithomas wrote:

"Conspiracy theorists need an apology."

sn0py4 commented:

"Cool. Now release the files."

Ayesha said:

"My biggest regret is getting that vaccine. 😭😭😭"

Three Eleven wrote:

"Who here never got a single jab?"

Tadi Dzue said:

"People died, real people died."

Aurora said:

"So Chinese people got hate for no reason."

Vinchy SA wrote:

"They changed the world; life was good before 2020. 😭😭😭"

Erin Griffen responded:

"I've read a lot of comments saying 'Biggest regret is being vaccinated during covid'. Are these people for real? You're still alive today and pretty in shape. What are u talking about? 🤣"

3 Other Briefly News stories about Covid-19

• Dr Anthony Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right during a Senate hearing focused on the origins of Covid-19.
• The Mpumalanga Magistrates Court granted a Malawian couple and their associate over R600,000 bail after they were arrested on 17 May 2026 in connection with a multimillion COVID-19 fraud scheme.
• The Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, announced that the Social Relief of Distress Grant will continue.

Source: Briefly News