Germany's foreign intelligence service in 2020 put at 80%-90% the likelihood that the coronavirus behind the COVID-19 pandemic was accidentally released from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology, two German newspapers reported on Wednesday.

German intelligence agency BND had assessed in 2020 that the possibility of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing Covid-19 disease, originating in a Chinese laboratory was 80-95% but the German government blocked the release of the agency’s findings for nearly five years,

The German parliament's oversight committee has called on the government to share the findings of an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic with the public, after reports that the government covered it up.

Former German chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed accusations of a cover-up regarding her handling of intelligence reports on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, her spokeswoman said on Thursday.