China’s Foreign Ministry, has on Thursday, said that the World Health Organisation,
WHO, has stated that there is no evidence that the coronavirus that has infected more than 2 million people globally, was made in a Laboratory in Wuhan, ChinaThe Ministry’s Spokesman, Zhao Lijian, made the remark in response to a question about accusations that the coronavirus originated in a Lab, in the Central Chinese city of Wuhan.
Wuhan was where the epidemic first emerged in late 2019, reportedly.However, the United States, US, President, Donald Trump, said on Wednesday, that his government is trying to determine whether the coronavirus emanated from a Lab in Wuhan.The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said that Beijing “needs to come clean” on what they know.
The source of the virus remains a mystery.Gen. Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated on Tuesday, that US intelligence indicates that the coronavirus likely occurred naturally, as opposed to being created in a Laboratory in
China, but there is no certainty either way.It was reported on Wednesday, that the virus originated in a Wuhan Laboratory, not as a bio-weapon, but as part of China’s efforts to demonstrate that its efforts to identify and combat viruses, are equal to or greater than the capabilities of the US.This report and others have suggested that the Wuhan Lab where virology experiments take place, and lax safety standards there, led to someone getting infected and appearing at a nearby “wet” market, where the virus began to spread.At a White House news Conference, Trump was asked about the reports of the virus escaping from the Wuhan Lab, and he said that he was aware of them.“We are doing a very thorough examination of this horrible situation that happened”,
he said.Trump has sought to stress strong US ties with China during the pandemic, as the US has relied on China for Personal Protection Equipment, PPE, desperately needed by American Medical workers.As far back as February, the Chinese State-backed Wuhan Institute of Virology, dismissed rumours that the virus may have been artificially synthesised at one of its Laboratories, or perhaps escaped from such a facility.Pompeo, in a Fox News Channel interview after Trump’s news Conference, said: “We know this virus originated in Wuhan”, and that the Institute of Virology is only a handful of miles away from the wet market.
“We really need the Chinese government to open up” and help explain “exactly how this virus spread”, said Pompeo.“The Chinese government needs to come clean”, he added.The broad scientific consensus held that SARS-CoV-2, the virus’ official name, originated in bats.