Earlier, Trump had claimed he had seen evidence the virus originated in a Chinese lab.
- The WHO has reiterated that the coronavirus is believed to be “natural in origin”, responding to a claim by US President Donald Trump that he had seen evidence that indicated the virus emerged from a virology institute in Wuhan, China.
- Russia has registered a record number of coronavirus cases for the third day in a row, as 7,933 more people tested positive for the virus.
- South Africa took its first steps towards rolling back one of the world’s strictest coronavirus lockdowns.
- A US watchdog warned Afghanistan is likely facing a “health disaster” from the pandemic.
- The eurozone’s economy shrunk by 3.8 percent in the first quarter, the biggest hit since records began in 1995.
- Worldwide, the number of confirmed infections stood at more than 3.26 million, with some 233,000 deaths and more than one million recoveries.
WHO says virus ‘natural in origin’
The WHO has reiterated that the new coronavirus was of natural origin after US President Donald Trump claimed he had seen evidence it originated in a Chinese lab.
Scientists believe the killer virus jumped from animals to humans, emerging in China late last year, possibly from a market in Wuhan selling exotic animals for meat.
Trump claimed Thursday that he had seen evidence that gave him confidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was actually the source of the outbreak, although he refused to give details. When asked about the statement, WHO emergencies chief Michael Ryan stressed that the UN health agency had “listened again and again to numerous scientists who have looked at the sequences” of the virus.
“We are assured that this virus is natural in origin,” he said, reiterating a stance the UN agency has expressed previously.
WHO ‘didn’t waste time’
Tedros said the WHO had sounded the highest level of alert by declaring that the COVID-19 outbreak constituted a “public health emergency of international concern” on January 30, when there were no deaths and only 82 cases registered outside China.
“We didn’t waste any time,” he told Friday’s briefing. “The world had enough time to intervene.”
His comments came after WHO’s emergency committee met for the first time since making its declaration three months ago.
“Of course, the pandemic remains a public health emergency of international concern,” Tedros said after receiving the recommendations from the committee, made up of 19 independent experts.
While maintaining the global alert level, the experts made a range of general recommendations on how the WHO and countries should adjust their response to the pandemic.
It called among other things for broad cooperation to “identify the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population.”
It also called on WHO to “update recommendations on appropriate travel measures” linked to the outbreak, and to consider “the balance between benefits and unintended consequences,” such as the difficulties of transporting humanitarian aid when so many flights are grounded.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES