White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said a review of the origins of COVID-19 would be finished on Tuesday, but it could take several more days before its long-awaited findings are declassified and made public.
President Joe Biden ordered the intelligence community to conduct the 90-day review in May, tasking them with assessing whether the pandemic began when the virus crossed into humans from animals or whether it leaked from a Chinese laboratory.
The question has taken on a deep political dimension, with senior Republicans accusing Beijing of a cover-up and demanding financial compensation.
Psaki confirmed that the review would be completed on time.
'I would say that it will take it typically takes a couple of days, if not longer, to put together an unclassified version to present publicly and obviously the president would be briefed first on any findings so I don't have an exact date for you but I would expect it will be several days ... after tomorrow,' she told reporters at the White House.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that a review of the origins of COVID-19 would be completed on Tuesday - in line with the president's 90-day timetable, but it would take several days longer to be declassified for publication
President Biden announced the review on May 26. He said the inability of CDC inspectors to access key sites in China hampered early investigations as he asked the intelligence community to redouble efforts in investigating how COVID-19 emerged
Three members of staff Wuhan Institute of Virology were reported to have sought medical help for COVID-like symptoms in November 2019, adding to growing speculation that the virus escaped from the facility
At first, scientists were convinced that COVID-19 emerged naturally, crossing from an animal host to humans much like previous coronavirus outbreaks.
But this year a string of senior scientists admitted they may have leapt to conclusions.
At the same time, details emerged about how staff at the Wuhan Institute of Virology sought hospital treatment for COVID-like symptoms in November 2019.
The laboratory,
