President Donald Trump made an allegation on Thursday April 30, suggesting that evidence indicates the Wuhan Institute of Virology is responsible for the Coronavirus outbreak. When asked if he has seen evidence to strongly support this claim, Trump responded affirmatively, also criticizing the World Health Organization for being biased towards China. He further added that he couldn’t provide specific details on the matter. These comments contradicted the statement from the US national intelligence director’s office, which mentioned that no assessment has been made to determine the origin of the virus.
CNN reported that the intelligence community is hesitant to share details concerning the demands from the Trump administration, and officials have expressed concerns about the situation. Additionally, The New York Times reported that several top officials in the Trump administration have encouraged US intelligence agencies to search for evidence linking the virus to a Chinese laboratory.
Furthermore, The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration is exploring options to penalize China financially, including the possibility of the US government suing China for damages or canceling debt obligations.
Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, distanced himself from Trump’s allegation and stated that Australia had not seen any concrete evidence that the virus originated from the institute in Wuhan. Morrison emphasized that the most likely scenario points to wildlife wet markets as the source of the outbreak. Since its emergence late last year, Coronavirus has resulted in the deaths of 230,000 people worldwide, with over 3.2 million infections globally.