Does the evidence suggest COVID-19 is lab-made? WHO issues statement following Trump’s accusation
There has been friction between Trump and the WHO, as last week he announced to halt US’ funding to the organization.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has clarified that the novel coronavirus was not made in a laboratory. The statement came after President Trump said that the US was trying to determine whether the virus originated from ‘a lab in China’.
The spokeswoman for the WHO Fadela Chaib said in a news briefing that all the evidence gathered till now proves the virus has an animal origin.
‘’It is probable that the virus has an animal origin’’, she said.
Chaib added that WHO research proves there had been an animal host before the virus was transmitted to humans.
On the other hand, US officials said that the country’s intelligence community was working together to figure out whether the virus had emerged from a Chinese lab studying bat diseases. However, the lab denied these rumors and labeled them a ‘conspiracy theory’.
There has been some friction between Trump and the WHO, as last week he announced to halt US’ funding to the organization. He accused the agency of ‘mishandling’ its response to the pandemic.
Responding to the move, WHO said it would be unsuitable to stop the funding amidst this global outbreak. Later on, the organization said that it would work with its partners to fill any gaps.
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