The British government believes COVID-19 traces its origins to the Wuhan Institute of Virology “behind closed doors,” according to reports from a former Army Colonel.

The revelation comes amidst Prime Minister Boris Johnson revamping the United Kingdom’s biosecurity strategy to guard against “natural zoonosis and laboratory leaks.”

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, an expert on chemical and biological counter-terrorism and a biosecurity fellow at Magdalene College, Cambridge, stated in reference to the government:

“There is a huge amount of concern about coming out publicly, but behind closed doors most people think it’s a lab leak.”

“The zoonotic transfer theory just didn’t make sense,” the former British Army Colonel explained, adding “I think the official view [within Government] is that it is as likely as anything else to have caused the pandemic” in reference to the lab leak theory.

“A lot of people like myself think it is more likely. I think attitudes have changed a little bit.”

British officials consulted experts like Bretton-Gordon for evidence to support drafting a new biosecurity strategy for “accidental release and dual-use research of concern, where life science research is capable of being misapplied to do harm.”

“My big concern is that next time it might not be an accident, because it’s easy to do. If you had no morals and no scruples, why not infect your enemy,” reasoned Bretton-Gordon.

The admission comes amidst America’s COVID-19 czar Anthony Fauci funding studies in Wuhan falling under the category of “dual-use research of concern,” including on “killer” bat coronaviruses. The National Institutes of Health official has also defended the research practice – which includes manipulating pathogens to make them deadlier to humans – as “integral” despite its potential to cause pandemics.

The National Pulse previously reported that the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s Deputy Director was engaging in studies resembling dual-use research of concern with “no regulation.”