The United States wants a "robust and clear" international probe into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic in China, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters, she said it was "imperative we get to the bottom" of how the virus appeared and spread worldwide.

Psaki highlighted "great concern" over "misinformation" from "some sources in China."

The coronavirus has killed more than two million people, infected at least 100 million and hammered the global economy since first being detected about a year ago in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

Earlier this month, a team of experts from the World Health Organization, or WHO, arrived in Wuhan after repeated delays to probe the virus's origins.

Scientists agree that the disease has an animal origin and particular focus is on the Wuhan "wet market," which sells live animals.

But former US president Donald Trump supported a theory that the virus could have instead originated in a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, something China rejects.

Days before Trump left office this month, the State Department attacked the Chinese Communist Party's "deadly obsession with secrecy and control." It said that staff at the Wuhan lab had fallen sick with symptoms resembling Covid-19 in 2019, before any cases of the virus were made public.

Beijing has countered with arguments that although Wuhan is where the first cluster of cases was detected, it is not necessarily where the virus originated.

The government and state media have even tried to push conspiracy theories about a supposed link to a US biological weapons lab in Maryland.

Psaki said the new Biden government was devoting significant resources of its own to understanding what happened and would not take the WHO report for granted.

Washington will "draw on information collected and analyzed by our intelligence community" and also work with allies to evaluate the "credibility" of the international report.

In addition, the Biden administration intends to boost "our staffing on the ground in Beijing, which is something that fell back in the last administration."

Related Links
Epidemics on Earth - Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Google offers facilities for US vaccination sites
San Francisco (AFP) Jan 25, 2021
Google said Monday it would make its facilities available for Covid-19 vaccination sites as part of a new initiative to help speed the rollout of inoculations in the United States. Chief executive Sundar Pichai made the announcement as part of a $150 million initiative to promote vaccine education and equitable access. "To help with vaccination efforts, starting in the United States, we'll make select Google facilities - such as buildings, parking lots and open spaces - available as needed," P ... read more