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The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday branded “speculative” statements by US authorities that claim to have evidence that the new coronavirus comes from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
“We have not received no specific data or evidence from the US government about the alleged origin of the virus, so for us it remains speculative, “ Michael Ryan, the organization’s director of emergencies, said at a telematic press conference from WHO headquarters in Geneva.
After accusing China of hiding the emergence and spread of the new coronavirus, Washington says it has “proof” that it comes from a laboratory in Wuhan, and President Donald Trump threatened Beijing with “punitive tariffs.”
Despite the fact that the US secret services consider that the new coronavirus has not been created by man or genetically modified, although it does not formally exclude that it comes from a laboratory, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday that there was a “significant number” of evidence to the contrary.
“Like any organization based on testing, we would like to receive all the information about the origin of the virus (…) If this data and evidence is available, it is up to the US government to decide whether and when to share it, but it is difficult for WHO to rule in the absence of information. ” to support this hypothesis, said Michael Ryan.
“We focus on the tests that we have and the tests that we have are from sequencing and everything that has been transmitted to us (and) is that the virus is of natural origin,” he said.
“Science must be at the center. Science will find the answers, ”said this official from the UN health agency.
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