Nearly Half Of Americans Believe Covid-19 Leaked From Chinese Lab, Poll Finds

Topline

In a decisive pivot from last year, a solid plurality of Americans now believe Covid-19 leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, a new poll finds—a sign the renewed interest in the possibility among experts and lawmakers has had a cascading effect on public opinion.

TOPSHOT-CHINA-HEALTH-VIRUS — TOPSHOT - An aerial view shows the P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in ... [+] China's central Hubei province on April 17, 2020. - The P4 epidemiological laboratory was built in co-operation with French bio-industrial firm Institut Merieux and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The facility is among a handful of labs around the world cleared to handle Class 4 pathogens (P4) - dangerous viruses that pose a high risk of person-to-person transmission. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
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Key Facts

Roughly 46% of U.S. adults think Covid originated with a lab leak, a Morning Consult survey found, while 26% believe the virus began naturally, and 28% say they don’t know or have no opinion.

The poll of 2,200 adults, which was conducted June 4-7, shows Americans are starkly divided along party lines on the question: a whopping 70% of Republicans believe in the lab leak theory, while just 41% of independents and 32% of Democrats say the same.

The party split is reversed when it comes to the natural spread theory: 40% of Democrats think Covid originated naturally, while 22% of independents and just 11% of Republicans also agree.

Unsurprisingly, an overwhelming majority of Americans lack trust in the Chinese government and the Wuhan Institute of Virology—the lab some suspect to be the origin of the leak—to be “transparent and honest about the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Just 17% of Americans say they have some or a lot of trust in the Chinese government, while 21% say the same about the Wuhan lab.

More than half of Americans have trust in the World Health Organization (56%) and U.S. intelligence agencies (55%) to be forthcoming about the origin of Covid-19.

Not So Big Number

29%. That’s the percentage of Americans who believed Covid-19 came from a lab in a Pew study released last April. Most of the respondents who believed in the lab theory said they thought it was intentionally released from a lab (26%), while just 6% said it accidentally leaked. A plurality of respondents (43%) said it came about naturally.

Key Background

Most scientists, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, continue to believe the virus originated in animals in the wild and was transmitted to humans. However, many health experts have recently called to give the lab leak theory a second look after scientists and the media downplayed the possibility last year. In May, a group of 18 prominent scientists published a letter in Science stating the lab leak and natural spread theories both remain “viable” until more research is conducted and the Wall Street Journal reported details of a U.S. intelligence report that found several Wuhan Institute of Virology scientists were hospitalized with Covid-like symptoms in November 2019, weeks before the disease was first identified. The WHO’s initial probe into the virus’ origins found it was “extremely unlikely” it escaped from a lab, but did not come to a formal conclusion.

Tangent

Republicans who were early proponents of the theory, including Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and former President Donald Trump have taken a victory lap as momentum builds behind the lab leak theory.

What To Watch For

Last month, President Joe Biden said intelligence agencies have “coalesced around two likely scenarios” for the origin of Covid-19, including the lab-leak theory and zoonotic spillover. He called on officials to “redouble their efforts” to come to a conclusion on the virus’ origin over the next few months.

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