White House swaps COVID site for lab leak theory page

ISTANBUL

The Trump administration replaced the Covid.gov website with a platform that centers on the theory that the coronavirus originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, NBC News reported Friday.

Once a hub for COVID-19 resources such as vaccine information, testing access and long COVID support, the site now redirects users to a White House page referencing a December report by the Republican-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. The report concluded that the pandemic likely began due to a “laboratory or research-related accident.”

White House spokesperson Kaelan Dorr said in a statement to NBC News that the change reflects the Trump administration’s commitment to transparency, adding, “In contrast to the previous administration, we WILL be the most transparent administration in US history.”

The move comes weeks after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention slashed $11.4 billion in COVID-19 funding, while the National Institutes of Health canceled multiple research grants, including a $577 million project to develop oral antiviral drugs.