FACT BRIEF

Do recent polls find that more Americans have come to believe that the coronavirus came from a lab in China?

Thursday, July 15, 2021

By Gus Fisher

YES

Recent polls suggest that around half of Americans believe the coronavirus intentionally or unintentionally originated in a Chinese lab—up from an April Pew poll where 29% of respondents said the virus that causes COVID-19 was "most likely...made in a lab."

In a Politico/Harvard poll in late June, 52% of respondents attributed COVID-19 to "a laboratory leak in China."
In an early June Morning Consult poll, 46% of respondents agreed that "the coronavirus spilled from a virology lab in China."
In an Economist/YouGov poll from early June, 58% of respondents said that it was "definitely" or "probably" true that COVID-19 originated in a Chinese lab.

The jump follows reports that Wuhan scientists were hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms in November 2019, before the disease was identified. President Biden stated that his administration has not ruled out a "laboratory accident" as the possible origin of the disease.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Pew Research Nearly three-in-ten Americans believe COVID-19 was made in a lab

Politico Part III: The public's views on the origins of the COVID-19 virus

Morning Consult As COVID-19 Origins Get Another Look, Nearly Half of the Public Backs Wuhan Lab Leak Theory

YouGov Most Americans now believe the coronavirus originated from a laboratory in China

Reuters Wuhan lab staff sought hospital care before COVID-19 outbreak disclosed - WSJ

White House Statement by President Joe Biden on the Investigation into the Origins of COVID-19

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