COVID-19 'not engineered as bio weapon', says Dr Anthony Fauci, as he hits back at his Republican critics

Dr Anthony Fauci says he believes that COVID-19 was "a natural occurrence" from animal to human.  (AP: Graeme Jennings)

Anthony Fauci, former chief medical adviser to the US president, says he has "an open mind" about the origins of COVID-19, but insists it was "not engineered as a bio weapon" by China or anybody else.

Speaking on the third anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring coronavirus a pandemic, Dr Fauci said he agreed with many leading epidemiologists that COVID-19 was likely a "natural occurrence from animal to human".