The federal government has now replaced the official covid.gov website, formerly a central resource for information about COVID-19 vaccines, testing, and treatments, with a new page hosted by the White House. Under the leadership of President Trump, this new website prominently highlights the widely disputed and unproven theory that COVID-19 originated from a laboratory in China.
This claim, which contradicts the consensus of countless virologists and scientific experts worldwide, echoes views presented previously in an investigative report published last year by House Republicans. That report asserted that the pandemic began from a lab leak in Wuhan. At the time, House Democrats responded with a detailed rebuttal arguing that the investigation offered no real evidence to determine the virus’s true origins.
Additionally, another government-run site, covidtests.gov, once known for providing free coronavirus tests, has also been redirected to this White House webpage.
Beyond emphasizing the lab-leak theory, the administration’s new website actively disseminates misinformation regarding COVID-19 preventive measures. It falsely asserts that strategies such as mask mandates, lockdowns, and social distancing are ineffective at curbing virus transmission. In contrast, numerous scientific studies have conclusively demonstrated that these measures significantly help reduce the spread of respiratory viruses, including COVID-19.
Since his return to office, Trump’s administration has systematically altered government websites to reflect his administration’s political and policy agenda. With assistance from Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative, the administration has undertaken a campaign to purge hundreds of references to diversity-related terms from official government materials. These alterations include the removal of terms like “Black,” “disability,” “diversity,” “gender,” “racism,” and “women.” Additionally, government-run environmental information portals have seen mentions of scientifically proven climate change drastically curtailed or eliminated entirely.
