President of the United States of America has possibly opened a can of words when he admitted today that he has ‘high degree of confidence’ that the Coronavirus originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. President Donald Trump has been consistent in his attempts to call out China for its irresponsible conduct as far as the Coronavirus pandemic is concerned. He has also consistently called out the World Health Organisation (WHO) for being complicit in covering up the conduct of China.
.@johnrobertsFox: "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?"
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 30, 2020
President Trump: "Yes I have. Yes I have."
Full video here: https://t.co/tl2r5ZGz8B pic.twitter.com/7BKScTkQsL
President Trump said that the government is examining all scientific evidence to determine the origins of Novel Coronavirus, however, when probed further by a journalist and asked whether he has seen information and has ‘high degree of confidence’ that the Coronavirus originated in a Wuhan lab, President Trump said, “Yes, I have”.
When asked if he can divulge what that information was, he said, “I can’t tell you that. I’m not allowed to tell you that”.
President Trump also called out the World Health Organisation (WHO) and said that they should be “ashamed of themselves” because they are like the “public relations agency” for China. President Trump said that WHO should not be making excuses when people (China) make horrible mistakes.
Recently, a report published by Fox News had claimed that the Wuhan coronavirus that has swept the globe was not a natural virus but a man-made one which was accidentally leaked by an intern working at the lab at Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.
Mounting an attack against China for its possible complicity in the spread of the virus, US President Donald Trump took cognisance of the exclusive report published by the Fox News which alleged that though the virus is a naturally occurring strain among bats and not a bioweapon, it was being studied in the Wuhan lab and was eventually leaked by an intern.
The report mentioned that the initial transmission of the zoonotic virus occurred from bat to human, adding that the “patient-zero” worked at the Wuhan laboratory. It stated that the intern working at the laboratory accidentally contracted the virus before transmitting it to other people outside the facility.
Even at the UNSC meeting, USA had called for an analysis of the origins of Coronavirus, in an obvious dig at China, while the latter insisted that no country should be made a scapegoat and called for global solidarity in the wake of the pandemic. SG Anthony Gutierres’s call for a global ceasefire received no support and the only thing the UNSC agreed on was on press elements post the meet.
“The United States reiterates today the need for complete transparency and the timely sharing of public health data and information within the international community. The most effective way to contain this pandemic is through accurate, science-based data collection and analysis of the origins, characteristics, and spread of the virus,” Ambassador Kelly Craft said in her remarks on the disease. She said, “Beyond its impact on global health, COVID-19 is having a tremendous socioeconomic impact on the entire world. This means that addressing the challenge before us requires global action, international solidarity, and unity of purpose.”
