TEHRAN (Iran News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) has denied the US’ claims that the coronavirus could have originated at a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
The UN health agency’s emergency director, Dr. Michael Ryan, said Monday that the organization has received no evidence from the US government to back up allegations by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the Wuhan lab.
“From our perspective, this remains speculative,” Dr. Ryan told reporters in Geneva, according to the Economic Times.
“We have not received any data or specific evidence from the US government relating to the purported origin of the virus.”
He said WHO would be “very willing” to receive any such information the US has.
Trump claims to have proof of the new coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak started in a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Last month, the US president halted funding to the World Health Organisation after he accused the UN boy of initially downplaying the seriousness of the outbreak to “shield China.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo doubled down on the assertion that the outbreak originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
“I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan,” Pompeo told ABC News on Sunday.
China has vehemently denied suggestions the lab was the source.
As the war of words escalates between Washington and Beijing over the coronavirus pandemic, critics say the Trump administration has ramped up efforts to blame China for the global outbreak as it faces growing criticism at home for its own handling of the pandemic.
Nearly 70,000 people died of the coronavirus in the US, and 1,180,634 virus cases were recorded as of early Tuesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University.
- source : MNA, Irannews
