A congressional subcommittee concluded its two-year investigation, stating that COVID-19 is “most likely” from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. The committee determined that social distancing and masking were “not based on science” and unjustified for prolonged school closures.

The report highlighted severe consequences, noting that “children lost decades worth of academic progress” due to the pandemic.

“A future pandemic requires a whole of America response managed by those without personal benefit or bias. We can always do better, and for the sake of future generations of Americans, we must,” committee Chair Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, wrote in a letter ahead of the report.