United States President Donald Trump slammed China for failing to contain the novel coronavirus at its origin, indicating that the US may seek damages if the situation worsens according to media reports.

"It is in 184 countries, as you hear me say often. It's hard to believe. It's inconceivable," Trump told reporters at a White House briefing on Tuesday.

"It should have been stopped at the source, which was China. It should have been stopped very much at the source, but it wasn't. And now we have 184 countries going through hell," he said as quoted by the Week .

The statement reiterates a similar remark made by Trump earlier this month where he has warned that there will be consequences for China if it was “knowingly responsible” for the Covid-19 pandemic, according to media reports.

At a daily White House briefing, the US President had said that the virus could have been stopped in China and the whole world is “suffering” because it wasn’t contained.

“It could have been stopped in China before it started and it wasn’t, and the whole world is suffering because of it,” Trump said as quoted by Reuters .

When asked about his thoughts on the “consequences” for China, he said that there should be consequences for China if it was “knowingly responsible” for spreading the virus.

Trump has also indicated that the US may look to seek damages from China for the outbreak which are "a lot more money" than the $140 billion being sought by Germany from Beijing for the pandemic, according to media reports.

Leaders from France, Europe, Germany and Australia among others have been seeking more transparency from China over the origin of the outbreak.

Furthermore, China had earlier declined US directions to send an investigative team into the country to probe into the origin of Covid-19.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had also said that China had "rebuffed" US efforts to get experts to probe the origin at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak to help contain its spread.

"This president and this administration worked diligently to get Americans on the ground there in China, to help the World Health Organisation try to get in there as well. We were rebuffed," Pompeo had said in a statement on Tuesday.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Tuesday had said that the accusation being made by US politicians were "barefaced lies", according to media reports.

Geng Shuang at another briefing earlier this month had said, "The virus is the common enemy for all mankind...It may appear at any time anywhere in the world. Like any other country, China is attacked by this virus. China is a victim instead of the culprit. We are not co-workers for this virus."

Over 3.1 million cases of Covid-19 have been reported across the globe with the death toll surpassing 2.1 lakh as per reports.

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