USA: Trump has "high degree of confidence" virus came from Wuhan lab

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Mandatory Credit: White House

US President Donald Trump claimed he has seen evidence that the coronavirus originated from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, during a press conference in Washington DC, on Thursday, in which he also slammed the World Health Organization (WHO) again, saying "they should be ashamed of themselves."

Asked if he has seen evidence that gives him a "high degree of confidence" that the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a research laboratory administered by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Trump answered, "Yes, I have. Yes, I have," later adding, "We have, there's a lot of theories, but yeah, we have people looking at it very, very strongly, scientific people, intelligence people and others. And we're going to put it all together. I think we're going to have a very good answer eventually. And China might even tell us. China may tell us."

Asked about the nature of the evidence, though, the president declined to answer, saying, "I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to tell you that."

Trump administration officials have been implying the institute could be involved in the origin of the virus for several days. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a statement on Thursday concluding that the virus was "was not manmade or genetically modified."

Trump also blasted the World Health Organization, saying "I think that the World Health Organization should be ashamed of themselves, because they are like the public relations agency for China. And this country pays them almost 500 million dollars a year, and China pays them 38 million dollars a year."

"I think the World Health Organisation should be ashamed of themselves," he added.

The president has repeatedly criticised the WHO for its response to the crisis and announced in April that the United States would halt funding to the organisation.

The US is the worst-hit country in the world, with over 1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus - more than the next six countries combined - and over 63,000 people have died with the disease as of Thursday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, outpacing expectations by the White House.

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