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Updated April 29th, 2020 at 10:59 IST

Australia calls COVID-19 inquiry 'reasonable', says 'not an attempt to target any country'

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the call for an inquiry into the coronavirus outbreak is reasonable not meant to target any country.

Reported by: Kunal Gaurav
Australia
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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on April 29 that the call for an inquiry into the coronavirus outbreak is reasonable and not meant to target any country. Morrison has been trying to gather international support to launch an investigation into the origin and course of the virus outbreak which has soured Australia’s relations with China in recent days.

Speaking to reporters in Canberra, the Australian Prime Minister said that the virus has claimed over 200,000 lives worldwide and has shut down the global economy. He insisted that though his call was not an attempt to target China, an independent assessment would seem entirely reasonable and sensible given the extraordinary impact and implications.

Call for an independent inquiry into the virus outbreak gathered momentum after reports of the man-made virus in Wuhan’s laboratory emerged. The novel coronavirus is believed to have originated in Wuhan late last year which turned into a pandemic infecting over 3 million people across the globe so far.

Read: Australian PM Announces COVID-19 Restrictions Will Continue For 4 More Weeks

'WHO should cooperate'

Earlier, Morrison said that all the members of the World Health Organisation (WHO) should cooperate with the proposed independent inquiry into the spread of coronavirus. During a press conference on April 23, Morrison said that the inquiry into the virus outbreak is necessary so that the world can learn the lessons. The 51-year-old leader opined that review and information gathered by independent public inspectors can undoubtedly save lives.

“If you're going to be a member of a club like the World Health Organization, there should be obligations and responsibilities attached to that,” said the Australian PM.

Read: Australia Slams China Over 'economic Coercion' Threat, Says It Made A 'principled Call'

The United States has accused China of hiding the facts around the virus outbreak as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had earlier said that Beijing did not report the coronavirus outbreak in a timely manner to the WHO. The top diplomat accused China of covering the dangerous nature of the disease and not reporting the sustained human-to-human transmission until it was spread in every province of China.

Read: Australia's COVID-19 Tracking App Surpasses 1 Million Downloads In 5 Hours

Read: Australia Begins Lifting 'most Extreme' COVID-19 Restrictions In Some Parts

(Image: AP)

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Published April 29th, 2020 at 10:58 IST

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