Five years into the coronavirus pandemic, new reports suggest that German authorities may have been aware of the virus’s lab origin much earlier than previously known but chose not to disclose the information.
Data from Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), as reported by Die Zeit and Süddeutsche Zeitung, reveal that the German government might have had early knowledge of the virus’s laboratory origin, dating back to 2020. These revelations raise significant questions about transparency during the pandemic’s early days.
In 2020, the Chancellor’s office reportedly tasked the BND with investigating the origins of the virus. The German intelligence service, which directly reports to the Chancellor, began a detailed analysis using publicly available information, including scientific studies and dissertations from 2019–2020 regarding the virus’s impact on the human brain. Alarmingly, the most advanced research in this area was conducted in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus’s outbreak.
In addition to open-source research, the BND gathered intelligence from a covert operation called “Saaremaa,” which provided confidential data from Chinese scientific institutions, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The BND also consulted informants in China and partner intelligence agencies. According to BILD, the BND found evidence of secret coronavirus experiments and safety violations within Chinese labs.
Based on these findings, the BND concluded that the virus likely originated in a laboratory and was accidentally released. The intelligence service assessed the probability of this theory to be between 80-95%. This sensitive information was reportedly passed to the Chancellor’s office in 2020, with BND head Bruno Kahl informing top officials.
Despite the gravity of the information, the government chose not to disclose these findings to the public. Parliament was also kept in the dark. On March 13, 2025, a parliamentary oversight committee met behind closed doors to discuss why the BND’s findings were concealed and who in the Chancellor’s office was informed, when, and why the decision was made to keep this information secret.
Vice President of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Kubicki, has condemned the government’s actions, calling it “one of the biggest government scandals in the history of the FRG.” He further emphasized the deep damage this scandal has caused to the integrity of the state’s political culture and the public’s trust.
While former Chancellor Angela Merkel, current Chancellor Olaf Scholz, former Health Minister Jens Spahn, and current Health Minister Karl Lauterbach all denied knowledge of the findings, Kubicki insisted on full transparency regarding who knew what and when, as well as the steps taken by the government concerning China.
Kubicki added, “all those involved in the concealment should no longer hold responsible positions,” including Merkel, Scholz, and BND chief Kahl.
The German Institute for Economic Research (IW) estimates that Germany suffered economic losses amounting to 290 billion euros in the first two years of the pandemic. Additionally, the total cost to German taxpayers reached 439.7 billion euros, which included VAT reductions and compensation for remote work during lockdowns.
