White House national security spokesman John Kirby says US officials have not reached a “definitive conclusion and consensus” on the origins of COVID despite a new report concluding the pandemic most likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak. On Monday, the classified intelligence report from the US Energy Department (which has expertise on the subject because it manages a lot of labs) gave the theory a “low confidence” assessment, which means it’s not convinced, but it can’t be ruled out either… As for other agencies, the FBI reckons the theory could hold up, but other government bodies say it’s more likely the pandemic resulted from natural transmission from animal to human. Beijing rejects the lab leak theory and has called on “certain parties” to “stop politicising the origins-tracing issue”. US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns yesterday called on China to be “more honest” about COVID’s origins.