Number 10 failed to distance itself from Donald Trump’s claim that coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab.
The US president made the shocking accusation in a White House media event last night, saying he had “seen evidence” that Covid-19 came from a lab, not a wildlife market.
He declined to describe the evidence, but his remarks will ratchet up tensions with Beijing over the origins of the deadly disease.
He also speculated whether China had made a “mistake” at the start of the outbreak or whether anyone had done “something on purpose”.
Asked whether he had seen evidence that gave him a “high degree of confidence” the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the President said he had.
“Yes, yes I have,” he said, declining to give specifics.
“I can’t tell you that. I’m not allowed to tell you that.”
He also said that the World Health Organisation “should be ashamed of themselves”, describing it as a “press agency” for China.
WHO earlier claimed that it had not been invited to join Beijing’s investigations into the virus.
Asked whether the government agreed with President Trump, Boris Johnson ’s official spokesman said: “There are clearly questions that need to be answered about the origin and spread of the virus, not least so we can ensure that we are best prepared for future global pandemics.
“This work will need to be done with all of our international partners.”
(Image: ANDY RAIN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
And he pointed to comments made by First Secretary of State Dominic Raab, who said on April 16 that there needed to be a “deep dive” review into how the virus was able to spread from China.
“I think there absolutely needs to be a very, very deep dive after the event review of the lessons – including of the outbreak of the virus – and I don’t think we can flinch from that at all, it needs to be driven by the science,” Mr Raab told the government’s daily COVID-19 news conference.
He added: “There is no doubt we can’t have business as usual after this crisis, and we will have to ask the hard questions about how it came about and how it couldn’t have been stopped earlier.”
The Chinese state-backed Wuhan Institute of Virology has dismissed the allegations, and other US officials have downplayed their likelihood.
Most experts believe the virus originated in a market selling wildlife in Wuhan and jumped from animals to people.
Earlier on Thursday, The Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the US said it had ruled out the virus being “manmade” but was still investigating the precise source of the global pandemic.
