Coronavirus: WHO says US has provided no proof on Wuhan lab claims
- No data or specific evidence received from Washington, says World Health Organisation emergencies director Michael Ryan
- WHO health expert Maria Van Kerkhove reiterates that virus appears to be of natural origin
The World Health Organisation said on Monday that Washington had provided no evidence to support “speculative” claims by the US president that the new coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab.
“We have not received any data or specific evidence from the United States government relating to the purported origin of the virus – so from our perspective, this remains speculative,” WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told a virtual briefing.
Scientists believe the killer virus jumped from animals to humans, emerging in China late last year, possibly from a market in Wuhan selling exotic animals for meat.
But US President Donald Trump, increasingly critical of China’s management of the first outbreak, claims to have proof it started in a Wuhan laboratory.
And US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday said “enormous evidence” backed up that claim, which China has vehemently denied.