Chinese Premier Li says 'important' to get clear idea of COVID-19 source

As China continues to battle the criticisms for allegedly concealing information on coronavirus, Chinese premier Li Keqiang, on May 28, said that it was important to find the origins of the infection and backed the efforts to find it on the basis of science. US President Donald Trump and other European leaders have continuously accused China of hiding information about the outbreak calling it responsible for the pandemic.

Li speaking at an annual press conference said that the virus caught everybody by surprise as it was "a new disease". He then added, "China and many other countries believe it is important to get a clear idea of the source of the new coronavirus."  Answering questions on the recent World Health Assembly resolution to investigate the origins of coronavirus, Li said that China was one of the "co-sponsors" of the resolutions and that it believes that getting the source of the virus on the basis of “science “ will help in containing it. The Chinese premier also asserted that  Xi Jinping led administration was open to international cooperation on research and development of vaccines, medicine, and testing reagents or COVID-19 and was “willing to share deliverables with the world.”

"We must continue to adopt a science-based open and transparent approach in dealing with COVID-19. Any infection must be promptly handled and no cover-up will be allowed, "he said. 

Talking about the current situation in China, he said that though the nation has “effectively brought”  COVID-19 under control, the nation has not yet come to complete end of it adding that there were sporadic cases. According to John Hopkins University, China has 84,106 confirmed cases as of now.  

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COVID-19 might not have origins in Wet Markets 

After staunchly denying US allegations of coronavirus originating from a bio lab in Wuhan, Chinese researchers on May 27 also denied the theory that the infection arose in the country's wet markets. The results of a study published in journal Nature on May 20 implied that Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan “may not be" the first place of COVID-19 through virus outbreak in the market had strong links to contact with the market.

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