They reportedly obtained documents in 2020 suggesting that the virus came from a lab leak
Germany’s foreign intelligence agency (BND) obtained evidence in the early days of the pandemic that convinced it that Covid-19 originated in a laboratory, Die Zeit and Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) newspapers reported on Wednesday. Berlin then decided to keep the conclusion secret out of fear of a possible mistake and potential political fallout, the media outlets said, citing their own investigation.
The BND dispatched a team of specialists to investigate the origins of the virus in the early weeks of 2020, the report said. They focused on Chinese government agencies and scientific institutions, including the Wuhan laboratory, where they reportedly discovered documents the German media describe as “fascinating and explosive.”
The German intelligence agency’s findings reportedly included data on experiments with coronaviruses, as well as a series of unpublished studies from 2019 and 2020, including those dealing with effects of coronaviruses on the human brain.
“The material suggests that an unusually large amount of knowledge about the supposedly novel virus was available in Wuhan at an unusually early stage,” Die Zeit reported.
The materials were reportedly evaluated by a team of BND analysts led by a virologist. The team cross-referenced the data with publicly available studies and materials obtained from other nations and concluded “with 80 to 95% certainty” that Covid “likely originated in a Chinese laboratory.” The BND reportedly believed that the outbreak was caused by an accident stemming from lax safety rules in the Wuhan lab.
The results were presented to former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, but it was skeptical and decided not to share the information with anyone, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the German parliament, according to the media. Berlin was reportedly afraid of potential complications in relations with Beijing and Washington.
The government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which succeeded Merkel’s, also reportedly did not find the BND conclusions convincing enough and initially decided to keep them under wraps. It was only in late 2024 that the BND was allowed to share its findings with the CIA and a carefully selected group of scientists, according to the outlets.
The CIA said in January 2025 it believed “with low confidence” that Covid-19 likely originated in a lab. The Chinese government has repeatedly rejected the lab-leak theory. Another major theory suggests that Covid-19 emerged from a natural source, specifically through zoonotic transmission from animals to humans.
Following SZ’s and Die Zeit’s inquiry, Berlin said it would share the BND findings with the German parliament and the WHO and release some materials related to the scientific assessment of the agency’s conclusions to the public at some point in the future.
