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The United States National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said that as many as five plagues have come out of China in the past 20 years.O’Brien also held the country responsible for infecting the world with the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 2,50,000 people across the world, as per media reports.
People are infuriated globally and would stand against China to tell the country “we can no longer have these plagues coming out of China,” whether it is coming from labs or wet markets, neither one is a good answer, he said while briefing media at the White House on Tuesday.
"We know it came from Wuhan and I think there's circumstantial evidence that it could have come from the lab or the wet market. But, again, if you're China, neither one's a good answer," O'Brien said.
"We've had five plagues from China in the last 20 years. We've had SARS, avian flu, swine flu, Covid-19 now, and how long can the world put up with this terrible public health situation that you've got in the People's Republic of China that is being unleashed on the world," the top American official said.
He, however, did not mention the fifth plague to come out of from China.
"I mean, this is -- at some point, it's got to stop. We offered to send in health professionals to help the Chinese. They rejected that," he said.
When asked that the US is still looking for evidence about the origin of the virus, he refrained from giving a time frame.
"I can't give you a timeframe on that. That's something that we''re continuing to review and it is obviously a very serious concern.
"Look, China's got to figure out how to deal with its public health because we cannot have another one of these virus outbreaks and plagues come from China. This was a terrible thing that happened to the entire world, not just to the United States," he said.
The coronavirus has claimed deaths of around 2,50,000 people globally and over four million people have been infected around the world. The US is the worst-hit country with more than 80,000 deaths and 1.4 million cases.
"The world economy shut down, and this isn't the first time it's happened. This is the fifth time it's happened in 20 years, and it's got to stop. China needs help. They need help from the rest of the world. And we're prepared to help China deal with the public health crises so we don't face this issue again," the National Security Advisor added.
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