US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged his support to World Health Organization’s (WTO) plans for additional research into COVID-19 origins to better understand the Pandemics and prevent future ones. On Wednesday in Kuwait, WTO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met Antony who showed the US’s support when the UN health agency has been under intensifying pressure for a new and more in-depth investigation.
From the Gulf Arab State Antony tweeted about the U.S.’s support into COVID-10 origins, including in (the People’s Republic of China) to better understand the cause. The meeting was not on the US diplomat’s published schedule. The State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that Blinken stressed the need for the next phase of the investigation to be timely, transparent, evidence-based, expert-led, and free from interference. He emphasized the importance of international communities to come together in this matter as of critical concern.
The lab leak theory has been repeatedly being denied by Beijing and insisted that it is extremely unlikely, citing the conclusion reached by a joint WHO-Chinese mission in Wuhan. Earlier this month, on the second stage of investigation China, expressed its disappointment and said such a proposal showed “disrespect” and “arrogance towards science”.
