WASHINGTON, April 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trump suggested that he may seek damages from China over the coronavirus outbreak which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan and spread around the world.
“We are not happy with China,” Trump said at a White House briefing. “We are not happy with that whole situation because we believe it could have been stopped at the source.
“It could have been stopped quickly and it wouldn’t have spread all over the world,” he said.
“There are a lot of ways you can hold them accountable,” Trump said. “We’re doing some very serious investigations as you probably know.”
Trump was asked about a recent German newspaper editorial which called on China to pay Germany $165 billion in reparations because of economic damage done by the virus.
Asked if the US would consider doing the same, the US president said “we can do something much easier than that.”
“Germany is looking at things, we are looking at things,” he said. “We are talking about a lot more money than Germany’s talking about.”
“We haven’t determined the final amount yet,” Trump said. “It’s very substantial.
“This is worldwide damage,” he said. “This is damage to the US, but this is damage to the world.”
There have been more than 55,000 coronavirus-related deaths in the United States and the pandemic has shut down huge swathes of the economy, leaving tens of millions unemployed.
The United States recorded 1,303 more novel coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, according to figures reported late Monday by the Johns Hopkins University, with confirmed US cases nearing one million.
The country now has an overall death toll of 56,144, with 987,022 infections, according to a tally by the Baltimore-based institution at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Tuesday).
At least 111,109 people have recovered from the virus.
The 24-hour toll on Monday was in line with Sunday’s, but a sharp drop on Saturday’s figure of 2,494.
More states began lifting coronavirus lockdown orders on Monday but officials said New York — America’s economic engine and coronavirus epicenter — was in no hurry with hospitalization rates still high.
As Colorado, Minnesota, Mississippi and Tennessee were among the latest states to loosen restrictions, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he was preparing to lengthen confinement measures for badly-hit areas.
New York is America’s worst-hit state, with more than 17,300 COVID-19 deaths out of almost 292,000 confirmed infections.
President Donald Trump said he expected to see many US schools reopen before the end of the school year.
“Even if it’s for a very short period of time, I think it would be a good thing,” he told reporters. — NNN-AGENCIES
