Claims about origin of novel coronavirus remain speculative, no proof from the US: WHO

The World Health Organization has said that it has received no evidence regarding the origin of the novel coronavirus from the US government to support allegations by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the virus could have originated in a lab in Wuhan.

Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Program had said at a press briefing that the organization had received no evidence supporting the claims regarding the virus’ origin, according to media reports.

“From our perspective, this remains speculative. We have not received any data or specific evidence from the US government relating to the purported origin of the virus,” Ryan had said at a press briefing.

“If that data and evidence is available, then it will be for the United States government to decide whether and when it can be shared,” he further said.

“But it's difficult for WHO to operate in an information vacuum in that specific regard,” he said.

Trump and Pompeo have repeatedly criticized China regarding the origin of the virus. Both Trump and Pompeo on Sunday had said that the US government was probing into China’s role in the origin of the virus. Trump had said that he had seen evidence that the virus had originated in a lab in Wuhan at a press briefing last week.

Ryan had reiterated his statement that the WHO is still in the belief that the virus has a natural origin.

“We have listened again and again to numerous scientists who have looked at the sequence and looked at the virus, and we are assured that this virus is natural in origin,” Ryan had said at a press briefing last week.

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