The US intelligence community has determined Covid-19 "was not manmade or genetically modified", though it is still investigating the virus' origins.
The National Intelligence chief's office said agencies are looking into whether the outbreak began from animal contact or a laboratory accident.
President Donald Trump later suggested he had seen evidence the virus came out of a Chinese laboratory.
China has rejected the theory and criticised the US response to Covid-19.
What did the intelligence chief say?
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees US spy agencies, said on Thursday it concurs with the "wide scientific consensus" regarding Covid-19's natural origins.
"The [intelligence community] will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan."
The virus was first detected in Wuhan, China. There are now over 3.2 million cases worldwide and more than 231,000 deaths.
Thursday's statement is the first clear response from US agencies debunking conspiracy theories - both from the US and China - about the virus as a purported bioweapon.
The idea that the coronavirus could have inadvertently leaked from a laboratory has not yet been disproven.
Taking questions at the White House on Thursday, Mr Trump stoked this theory.
He was asked by a reporter: "Have you seen anything at this point that gives you a high degree of confidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the origin of this virus?"
The president replied: "Yes, I have. Yes, I have. And I think the World Health Organization should be ashamed of themselves because they're like the public relations agency for China."
He added: "Whether they [China] made a mistake, or whether it started off as a mistake and then they made another one, or did somebody do something on purpose?
"I don't understand how traffic, how people weren't allowed into the rest of China, but they were allowed into the rest of the world. That's a bad, that's a hard question for them to answer."
The New York Times reported on Thursday that senior White House officials have asked the US intelligence community to investigate whether the virus came from a Wuhan research laboratory.
Intelligence agencies have also been tasked with determining if China and the WHO withheld information about the virus early on, unnamed officials told NBC News on Wednesday.
What's the background?
Mr Trump has recently been escalating his war of words with China over the pandemic after what officials within the US president's administration had described as a truce with Beijing.
Mr Trump has often blamed China at briefings, accusing its officials of covering up the virus early on and saying they could have stopped the disease from spreading.
He has similarly criticised the WHO and withdrawn US funding for the global body.
China's Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, has accused the Trump administration of trying to distract from its own problems tackling the crisis.
A ministry spokesman has also repeatedly promoted the idea - without evidence - that Covid-19 might have originated in the US.
According to the Washington Post, the Trump administration is looking into ways to punish China financially. Discussions reportedly include allowing the US government to sue China for damages or cancelling debt obligations.
The US-China propaganda war
This is the first definitive statement on the matter from US intelligence agencies. It rejects the most extreme of the conspiracy theories about the pandemic's origins - that the Chinese developed and un-leashed the coronavirus as a bioweapon.
But it doesn't rule out the possibility that the virus was accidentally leaked from a Wuhan laboratory studying infectious diseases.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in particular has talked up that scenario, urging China to let outside experts into the facility, and raising questions about lab safety in other parts of the country. The Chinese government says any such allegations are unfounded and fabricated out of nothing.
Claims and counterclaims about the origins of the virus are part of a propaganda war over China's handling of the coronavirus crisis.
But they also reflect US frustration with the Chinese for not sharing more data about how the pandemic developed.
Donald Trump claims he has seen evidence the novel coronavirus originated in a Wuhan laboratory.
Speaking at a White House news conference, the US president said China either could not stop spread of the virus, or let it spread.
Mr Trump said he feels confident the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, adding that US authorities were "looking at it very, very strongly".
"We're going to see where it is - we're going to see where it comes from," he said.
Asked by a reporter whether he had seen "anything that gives you a high degree of confidence" the institute was the origin of the virus, he responded: "Yes I have."
Advertisement
And asked a few minutes later what gave him such confidence, he said: "I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to tell you that."
He declined to say whether he holds Chinese President Xi Jinping responsible for what he feels is misinformation.
Kim Jong-un, 36, was absent from public ceremonies on the birth anniversary of his grandfather and founder of the country, Kim Il-sung. His unprecedented disappearance led to days of speculation in the international community over his health, whether he had died, and whether the nuclear-capable state was headed toward instability. Thae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat, has said the leader "can't stand himself or walk properly".
He noted the death of Kim Jong-il was kept a secret for two days and his Foreign Minister wasn't informed until an hour before the official statement.
Thae told CNN: "Kim Jong-un is not only the leader of North Korea, but he is the grandson of Kim Il-sung...to North Korean eyes it is really abnormal.
"I'm not quite sure whether he really had some surgery or whatever, but one thing is clear... he cannot stand up by himself or walk properly."
It comes as a US official told the news site the North Korean leader is "in grave danger after a surgery".
Thae added: "The only people who can confirm his real condition might be Kim Jong-un's wife or his sister, or his close aides.
"Those rumours of where he is now, (or) whether he has any surgery, I don't think that is really based on the facts."
The United States has caught no sight of Kim and is watching reports about his health, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday, adding there was a real risk of famine in the country amid the coronavirus outbreak.
North Korean media has not reported on Kim's whereabouts since he presided over a meeting on April 11, provoking speculation about his health and raising concerns about instability in the nuclear-armed country that could affect other North Asian countries and the United States.
They caution, however, that Kim's health and location are closely guarded secrets and reliable information is difficult to obtain from secretive North Korea.
On Saturday, a US-based North Korea monitoring project, 38 North, said satellite images showed what was believed to be Kim's personal train parked at a station reserved for his use in Wonsan on April 21 and 23.
New images taken on Wednesday showed a train in the same position, but it was unclear whether it had been there since last week, 38 North said.
On Tuesday, another North Korea-monitoring website, NK PRO, reported that commercial satellite imagery showed boats often used by Kim had moved in patterns suggesting he or his entourage may be in the Wonsan area.
In a video clip posted by the White House on Twitter, President Trump has made several claims about testing policy in the United States, an issue over which his administration has faced significant criticism.
We've been checking these claims out.
Claim one
"We have tested more than all countries put together… the testing has been incredible now, and to a level that nobody's seen."
President Trump says the US has carried out more tests than every other country in the world combined.
The latest data shows that a total of 6,026,170 tests have been carried out in the US.
This is more than any other single country.
However, it's nowhere near as many as the rest of the world combined.
Just adding together the totals of Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK gives you more than the US.
The US also still lags behind several other nations in terms of testing per capita.
Exact testing comparisons can be difficult as countries count testing in different ways.
But looking at the latest data available, the US has carried out about one test in every 55 people. Italy has performed around one in every 30 people, Spain around one in every 45, and Australia around one in every 45.
Claim two
"We had old-fashioned tests that didn't work - they were really obsolete - they didn't work, they were broken."
President Trump says his administration had a "broken" test that didn't work when first testing for the coronavirus.
He has previously said: "We inherited a broken test - the whole thing was broken."
The US did have faulty tests initially after the White House conceded the first batch sent out by the government's central health body produced inconclusive results.
However, these tests were introduced in February under the Trump administration so they weren't inherited or old.
In early March, the White House conceded the US did not have enough testing kits, but since then it has significantly ramped up testing, with the total number increasing six fold since the start of April.
Claim three
"Millions of tests - and the highest quality."
When President Trump talks about the "highest quality" tests, it's not exactly clear what he's referring to. He has previously said the US tests are "better" than those used in other countries.
However, when it comes to antigen tests - tests that tell you if someone currently has coronavirus - the accuracy tends to be similar across the globe.
The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, an independent evaluator of tests, based in Switzerland, says its results "see equally good performance from companies in multiple countries".
Antibody tests - which tell you if someone has previously had Covid-19 - have so far proved unreliable and have not been widely rolled out. So, the "millions of tests" must be the antigen ones.
There is no clear evidence that these tests in the US are any better or worse than in any other country.
Another 674 people in the UK have died after contracting coronavirus, Boris Johnson has said.
The prime minister said a total of 26,711 people in the UK have now died after testing positive for COVID-19.
Appearing at the daily Downing Street briefing for the first time since his recovery from coronavirus, Mr Johnson said: "Across this country, families are continuing to lose their loved ones before their time. We grieve for them and with them.
PM thanks NHS for 'getting me back here'
"But as we grieve we are strengthened in our resolve to defeat this virus, to get this whole country back to health, back on its feet."
The PM also said the UK was "now past the peak and on the downward slope" in the coronavirus pandemic.
Advertisement
The latest deaths announced on Thursday included a 15-year-old patient.
It is the second day that the UK death total includes fatalities in care homes and the wider community as well as in hospitals.
More from Covid-19
There are now more 171,000 known cases of coronavirus in the UK - an increase of more than 6,000 since Wednesday.
The government's chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance said there had been a decrease in the number of new cases, as well as a decrease in the number of COVID-19 deaths.
He said: "The number of new cases is down, that's turning into fewer admissions, fewer people in hospital, fewer people in intensive care and we're beginning to see that decrease in deaths."
The number of coronavirus deaths in the UK stood at 26,097 on Wednesday.
The country now has the second highest number of recorded COVID-19 deaths in Europe and the third highest in the world.
Italy has registered more than 27,600 coronavirus deaths, the highest tally in Europe, while more than 60,000 people have died in the US after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
However countries record their coronavirus deaths in different ways so it is difficult to compare them like-for-like.
Since Wednesday, the government's daily update on the number of coronavirus deaths in the UK has included fatalities in care homes and the wider community as well as in hospitals.
According to the latest data for the UK:
Coronavirus deaths in hospitals in England increased by 391 to 20,137
Deaths in Scotland rose by 60 to 1,475
In Wales, another 22 people died with COVID-19, taking its total to 908
Northern Ireland recorded nine more coronavirus deaths, with its total now at 347
Health authorities in the four UK nations record their own daily figures, which may not tally with the government's overall UK total because they collate their numbers at different times throughout the day.
Donald Trump's campaign to launch nationwide advertising blitz praising his handling of coronavirus crisis after he erupted 'I'm not f***ing losing to Joe Biden' when he was shown disastrous polls
Donald Trump's reelection campaign is set to release two rounds of ads – the first praising his for coronavirus response and second attacking Joe Biden
The ads will be released after the president launched a furious attack during a briefing with adviser where polls show him trailing Biden in battleground states
Trump dismissed the internal polling as 'fake' in a tweet Thursday morning
'I'm not f***ing losing to Joe Biden!' Trump lashed out at his campaign manager Brad Parscale during a call Friday
He also reportedly threatened to sue Parscale at one point during the call
Donald Trump's reelection campaign will release a nationwide ad Sunday touting his response to the coronavirus pandemic then a second wave of ads will issue attacks on Joe Biden after internal polls showed a dangerous slide in support.
The first ad will air all next week and likely come with a seven figure price tag, two people familiar with the plans told Politico in a report Thursday.
Although there was an initial surge in support for Trump at the start of the coronavirus outbreak, internal polling shown to the president last week exhibits that the boost has vanished.
The second round of ads set to be released next month will focus on attacking the presumed Democratic nominee in the Trump campaign's first major attack ad blitz of the general election.
During the briefing Friday, Trump's political advisers also informed him about internal polling that shows a months-long slip for the president with Biden pulling ahead in battleground states.
'FAKE POLLING, just like 2016 (but worse)!' Trump lamented on Twitter Thursday morning.
The polling prompted a furious response from the president in private when he lashed out at his campaign manager, Brad Parscale, during a call with campaign advisers Friday.
'I'm not f***ing losing to Joe Biden,' Trump directed to Parscale, five sources with knowledge of the conversations told the Associated Press, adding that he cursed at his campaign manager several times throughout the call.
Donald Trump's reelection campaign is set to release two rounds of ads after the president launched a furious attack directed at his campaign manager after seeing polls with him trailing Joe Biden in battleground states
Trump dismissed the polling as 'fake' in a tweet Thursday morning
'I'm not f***ing losing to Joe Biden!' Trump lashed out at his campaign manager Brad Parscale (pictured) during a call Friday, according to sources familiar with the conversation. Another report indicates Trump threatened to sue Parscale at one point during the call
The first wave of ads will focus on touting the president's response to the coronavirus crisis as his polling boost in the early stages of the outbreak disappeared as the death toll surpassed 60,000 this week and there are now more than 1 million confirmed cases in the U.S.
The second round will be the first major attack ad blitz from Trump of the general election, aimed at Joe Biden, who became the presumed Democratic nominee earlier this month and received the endorsement of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton
The outburst came the day after Trump suggested during a coronavirus briefing that Americans inject disinfectants to treat COVID-19 and claimed it could also be treated with heat or light.
CNN also reported Wednesday that three people familiar with the matter said Trump, at one point during the Friday call, threatened to sue Parscale.
Parscale, 44, was the digital media director for Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and was promoted for the 2020 reelection effort to campaign manager.
Also during the call last week, Parscale and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel urged Trump to scale back his nearly-daily press briefings.
For the last two months, Trump has taken the podium in the James S. Brady briefing room to speak with a downsized room of reporters about coronavirus mitigation at the federal level – and often going on a tangent about a slew of other issues.
Trump seems to have taken his advisers' advice and in the last week has held fewer briefings.
He does, however, still speak with the media at other White House events, getting in his comments and praise about his response to the outbreak by means other than briefings.
Trump asserted on Twitter that the Democrats are trying to ‘steal’ the 2020 election, blaming the ‘fake news’ for helping.
“We can’t let the Fake News, and their partner, the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, get away with stealing the Election,” he tweeted Thursday. “They tried that in 2016. How did that work out?”
Trump has suspended his campaign rallies in the midst of the coronavirus crisis and the campaign has attempted to avoid appearing overly political by putting out any attack ads.
But now the reelection effort is stepping up the offensive as top Republicans have expressed concern over Trump's chances in November.
Parscale served as Trump's digital media director in the 2016 campaign and was promoted to campaign manager for the 2020 reelection efforts
Joe Biden became the presumed Democratic nominee earlier this month when his last remaining competition, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, suspended his campaign and endorsed the former vice president
People familiar with plans for the ads said the first round will depict Trump showing leadership in the face of opposition from Democrats and media while highlighting his determination to restart the economy.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, who served as Trump's 2016 campaign manager, has advocated for solely airing positive commercials about Trump's leadership rather than China-themed attack ads against Biden.
Trump instead decided to delay any anti-Biden sentiments for the second round of ads.
Politico reports that he has verbally expressed concern over whether he risks damaging Biden too early instead of waiting until closer to the election.
Biden, 77, became the presumed Democratic nominee earlier this month when Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign and threw his support behind the former vice president.
