WASHINGTON, May 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said “enormous evidence” showed the new coronavirus originated in a lab in China, further fueling tensions with Beijing over its handling of the outbreak.
Pompeo’s comments came as parts of the United States prepared to cautiously lift virus lockdowns as signs emerge that the deadly pandemic is ebbing and governments look to restart their battered economies.
More than 245,000 people have been killed and 3.4 million infected worldwide by the virus, which has left half of humanity under some form of lockdown and pushed the global economy towards its worst downturn since the Great Depression.
US President Donald Trump, increasingly critical of China’s management of the first outbreak in the city of Wuhan in December, claims to have proof it started in a Chinese laboratory.
Scientists believe the virus jumped from animals to humans, after emerging in China, possibly from a market in Wuhan selling exotic animals for meat.
China denies the claims, and the US Director of National Intelligence office has said analysts are still examining the exact origin of the outbreak.
Pompeo, a former CIA chief, told the ABC he agreed that the COVID-19 virus was not man-made.
But Pompeo went further than Trump, citing “enormous” evidence that the virus originated in a Wuhan lab. He did not however present evidence to back up his claim.
“I think the whole world can see now, remember, China has a history of infecting the world and running substandard laboratories,” he said.
Pompeo said early Chinese efforts to downplay the coronavirus amounted to “a classic Communist disinformation effort. That created enormous risk.”
“President Trump is very clear: we’ll hold those responsible accountable.”
US news reports say Trump has tasked US spies to find out more about the origins of the virus, as he makes China’s handling of the pandemic a centerpiece of his campaign for the November presidential election.
The United States has the most coronavirus deaths in the world at more 67,600, with 1,450 recorded over the 24-hours late Sunday.
Trump, speaking at a live TV event, promised an early coronavirus vaccine and an “incredible” future for the country as he sought to relaunch his disrupted election campaign.
Florida is set to ease its lockdown Monday, as other US states wrestle with pressure from demonstrators — some carrying weapons — who have rallied against the restrictions. In New York, the epicenter of the US outbreak, an emergency field hospital erected in Central Park is set to close as virus cases decline.
But dozens of New Yorkers were fined for violating social distancing guidelines as they flocked to beaches and parks in balmy weekend weather.
In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro railed against the country’s lockdown in a speech to thousands of anti-confinement demonstrators, even as the national death toll rose above 7,000. — NNN-AGENCIES
