The Trump administration has relaunched official US COVID-19 websites, redirecting users to content promoting the lab leak theory of the coronavirus origin and sharply criticising former President Joe Biden, former top health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The changes, which went live on Friday, affect websites such as Covid.gov and Covidtests.gov. Previously, these platforms provided public access to pandemic-related resources, including long COVID information, vaccine updates, and testing locations.
The new version of the site no longer includes public health guidelines and instead emphasizes criticism of previous pandemic management strategies such as mask mandates, social distancing, and lockdowns.
It also revives claims that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, originated from a laboratory in China, rather than from a natural source.
“The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2 publication — which was used repeatedly by public health officials and the media to discredit the lab leak theory — was prompted by Dr. Fauci to push the preferred narrative that COVID-19 originated naturally,” the updated website claims.
The White House has not released an official statement on the changes. Neither Dr. Fauci, President Biden, nor the WHO have responded to requests for comment.
The update is part of a broader trend by the Trump administration to reshape government health communication platforms. Previous changes included the removal of certain public health statistics, including HIV data related to transgender populations.
The US intelligence community, including the CIA, has not reached a definitive conclusion about the virus’s origin, though some agencies have said a lab origin is “more likely,” albeit with “low confidence.”
China has rejected the lab theory, calling it politically motivated.
