- The Biden administration is facing accusations that it hid information indicating seven service members may have contracted COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, as early as October 2019. The findings come in a previously undisclosed report from December 2022.
- The report states that seven service members experienced COVID-19-like symptoms after the 2019 military games.
- Republican Sen. Joni Ernst criticized the Biden administration for failing to disclose the information.
Full Story
A previously undisclosed report appears to reveal the Biden administration concealed findings from December 2022 by the U.S. Department of Defense that suggested seven U.S. service members may have been infected with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, as early as October 2019.
What does the report say?
The report from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness said the military members became sick with COVID-19-like symptoms after returning to the United States from the World Military Games in Wuhan. It said the seven people experienced symptoms from Oct. 18, 2019, through Jan. 21, 2020.
However, the report notes that these symptoms may have been from other respiratory illnesses, and all service members were symptom-free in less than a week.
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What are critics saying?
The Washington Free Beacon, which first broke the story, accuses the Biden administration of violating the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, which mandated the publishing and release of the report to the public. The Washington Free Beacon reported that the findings contradict the Biden administration’s claim that there was no evidence that U.S. athletes contracted COVID-19 during the military games.
The publication also suggests that the virus may have leaked into the human population from a Chinese lab.
The U.S. team reportedly flew to Washington after the games, which became one of the first states to see a surge in COVID-19 cases. Other athletes at the games, including an Italian fencer and a French athlete, suspect they contracted COVID-19 at the games.
How are Republicans responding?
Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst criticized the Biden administration for failing to release the report.
“Taxpayers deserve to know the truth about COVID-19 origins, but the Biden administration concealed this information from the American people for years,” Ernst told the Washington Free Beacon.
The Pentagon declined to comment on the report.
