Covid.gov website changed by Trump administration to promote lab leak theory
FILE - "Covid.gov" displayed on a monitor from 2022. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
A federal website that used to be dedicated to sharing information about vaccines, testing, and treatment for COVID-19 has now been completely transformed into a page that supports the theory that the virus was leaked from a lab in China.
covid.gov
Dig deeper:
The website now features a photo of President Donald Trump walking in between the words "lab" and "leak" under a White House heading.
It mentions that Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus first began spreading, is home to a research lab with a history of conducting virus research with "inadequate biosafety levels."
The web page also accuses Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, of pushing a "preferred narrative" that COVID-19 originated in nature.
The website notes that the content on the page was sourced directly from the House Oversight Committee's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
The covid.gov site used to include information on how to order free COVID tests and described how to stay up to date with your COVID-19 vaccine, saying it's "the best way you can protect you and your loved ones." It advised people how to get treatment right away if they get sick and added links to learn more information about long COVID.
Big picture view:
The origins of COVID have never been completely proven.
Scientists are unsure whether the virus jumped from an animal, as many other viruses have, or came from a laboratory accident. A U.S. intelligence analysis released in 2023 said there is insufficient evidence to prove either theory.
COVID-19 today
By the numbers:
About 325 Americans have died from COVID per week on average over the past four weeks, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of April 5, less than a quarter of adults in the U.S. have gotten an updated COVID vaccine.
Millions worldwide have had long COVID, with dozens of widely varying symptoms, including fatigue and brain fog.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered from The Associated Press, the CDC website and previous reporting from LiveNOW from FOX. This story was reported from Los Angeles.