The White House accused China of obstructing the World Health Organization's probe into the COVID-19 origin on Tuesday and requested that Beijing be more "transparent" by having better access to data from the original outbreak in late 2019.
White House expresses concern with WHO's COVID-19 origin report
Press Secretary Jen Psaki Briefs White House Media WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 29: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House on March 29, 2021 in Washington, DC. Later on Monday, President Joe Biden will deliver remarks on the COVID-19 response and the state of vaccinations.
The joint report from a World Health Organization (WHO) team and Chinese scientists released was inconclusive. It speculated that the pandemic started with animal-to-human transmission and spread widely in Wuhan, China, as Chinese officials have long said.
Some observers, such as Robert Redfield, the former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have disputed the assumption, as per The New York Times. Redfield claimed that COVID-19 might have originated in a government facility, although US intelligence officials have stated that they lack information to confirm where the virus originated.
White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said at a news conference on Tuesday that the report lacks critical data information and access - it reflects a partial and incomplete explanation. She added that Chinese officials "have not been transparent, they have not provided underlying data."
"That definitely does not qualify as cooperation," she continued, summarizing the White House stance on China's cooperation at a time when tensions between the two countries are still strong. Psaki combined her disapproval of Beijing with suspicion of the WHO's inquiry and the report's importance. Later that day, the US joined officials from Israel, Australia, Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom in signing a letter calling for a "transparent and unbiased analysis" of COVID-19 origin free of undue influence.
White House urged independent probe on COVID-19 origin
The US is calling for a "second stage" independent probe, in which authorities will have "unrestricted access to evidence" and press questions of people who were on the field during the outbreak. According to the Washington Examiner, the US and more than a dozen other nations released a joint statement appealing for just that.
"We also welcome a similar statement from the EU and EU members, which sends a strong message that the global community holds these concerns," Psaki said, adding that US officials are still checking the study. When asked whether the White House is worried about the likelihood that the coronavirus in a Wuhan lab, Psaki said China had refused to cooperate appropriately and had produced inadequate data.
"There's a report coming out shortly from the World Health Organization - we've got real concerns about the approach and the mechanism that went into that report, and the fact that the government in Beijing apparently helped to compose it," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN over the weekend. Biden shares these concerns, according to Psaki, and will meet with them until the review is completed.
WHO Report From China Claims COVID-19 Likely Originates From Animals
WHO's COVID-19 origin report sparked tensions
WHO chief said a mission to investigate the COVID-19 origin in China did not thoroughly examine the lab spill risk. The White House also slammed the study, calling it incomplete and criticizing China's data and access.
WHO chief said a mission to investigate COVID-19 origin in China failed to consider the likelihood of a lab leak until concluding that the pathogen most likely transmitted from bats to humans by another species. Despite the fact that an international team of scientists concluded that a leak is the least probable source of the pandemic, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus claimed that it needs further investigation. He claimed that he is prepared to deploy additional missions requiring specialist experts because he feels the analysis was incomplete, Bloomberg via MSN reported.
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