A 2022 report from the Defense Department, which had been withheld by the Biden administration, has come to light, disclosing that seven members of the U.S. military experienced COVID-19-like symptoms after competing in the World Military Games in Wuhan, China, in October 2019. This timing is significant as it predates China's public announcement of the virus outbreak in December 2019, suggesting that the virus could have been present in Wuhan earlier than previously acknowledged.

The findings of this report directly contradict statements made by the Biden administration in 2021, which claimed there was no evidence linking American athletes to COVID-19 infections at the games. Furthermore, intelligence agencies like the CIA and FBI have indicated that the pandemic might have its origins in a lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, casting further doubt on the official narrative surrounding the virus's emergence.

The delayed release of the report, which should have been publicly available over two years ago, only became accessible in late March, when uploaded by the Trump administration to a Defense Department website. It details that among the 263 U.S. personnel who attended the event, seven reported symptoms commonly associated with COVID-19 between mid-October 2019 and late January 2020, although these symptoms resolved within six days and were attributed to other respiratory infections.

Importantly, there were no recorded significant outbreaks of COVID-19-like symptoms at U.S. defense facilities following the athletes' return, as testing for the virus was not yet available during this early stage of the pandemic. Nevertheless, Washington state, where the U.S. team had returned to after using chartered flights through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, was among the first locations to report a spike in COVID-19 cases.

During this period, former Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby stated that the military had no knowledge of any infections stemming from the games. In June 2020, under the Trump administration, the Pentagon reiterated that testing was unnecessary because the event had occurred before the reported outbreak. Other participants from different countries also reported similar symptoms, which has led to speculation about the event possibly being a "super spreader" occurrence nearby the Wuhan lab, where research funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health was being conducted.

Many athletes reportedly observed that Wuhan seemed deserted during their stay, two months before the initial case of the coronavirus was officially reported. Former Congressman Mike Gallagher has emphasized that this period was crucial for understanding the virus and could have facilitated earlier travel restrictions in the U.S., potentially preventing a wider spread and saving countless lives.