A Chinese researcher from Beijing uploaded the nearly complete Covid virus sequence to the National Institute of Health database in the United States on December 28, 2019. This was two weeks before Beijing released the viral sequence to the rest of world. Documents obtained by a House Committee recently reveal that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had shared the viral structure with the world.

After threatening to subpoena HHS, Republicans in the House Energy and Commerce Committee obtained the documents first reported by Wall Street Journal.

The virus had been sequenced two weeks prior by a researcher from the Institute of Pathogen Biology, a branch of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, a state-affiliated institution with ties to both the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army.

These two weeks were a critical time in the evolution and spread of the pandemic. The international health community was scrambling to assess the threat and take action. Scientists from around the world were racing against time to better understand the virus that would kill millions.

Chinese officials described the outbreak of the disease in Wuhan as “a viral pneumonia” with an unknown cause to the public during that time. The latest congressional inquiry has raised new questions about what China was aware of in the early days of pandemic.

Different U.S. government organizations still have divergent conclusions about the origins Covid-19. Some still believe that the deadly coronavirus originated from an animal infected at the Huanan Fish Market. However, the FBI and U.S. Department of Energy agree that Covid is most likely the result of a lab spill in Wuhan.

Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R.W.A. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R, W.A.) is the Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. She said that recent discoveries show that the U.S. cannot trust the “facts” or data provided by CCP and seriously questions the legitimacy of scientific theories based upon such information.

Jesse Bloom reviewed documents from the Health Department and the newly discovered gene sequence. This revelation highlights “how careful we must be in assessing the accuracy of information released by the Chinese government”. Bloom, who spoke to the Journal, said that it’s crucial to remember how little we actually know.

Dr. Lili Ren from China, the researcher who uploaded this virus sequence to the Journal in December, has not responded to an email asking for comment. Ren was contracted to work as a researcher on a U.S. funded project that aimed to determine how coronaviruses could be transmitted from animals to people. EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit organization, oversaw the project which included collecting bat samples in China.

Ren also receives the same National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), grant as the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which was disqualified for ten year from receiving NIH Grants for not providing laboratory records requested by NIH and conducting research “that did lead or could have led to health issues or any other unacceptable outcomes.”

China continues to defend their lack of transparency regarding the virus.

“China has refined its COVID response on the basis of science in order to make it more focused. China’s COVID policies are effective, based on science, and in line with China’s realities. “They can stand the test for history,” said a spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy.