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Updated May 18th, 2020 at 12:01 IST

Mike Pompeo backs away from earlier theory of lab origin of coronavirus

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared to be backing away from his earlier claim that the coronavirus originated from a laboratory in China’s Wuhan.

Reported by: Kunal Gaurav
Pompeo
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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared to be backing away from his earlier claim that the coronavirus originated from a laboratory in China’s Wuhan. In an interview with Breitbart, the top diplomat said that the US knows the virus originated in Wuhan but “we don't know from where or from whom, and those are important things”.

Pompeo said that the US repeatedly demanded to let teams enter China to assist them in identifying the origin of the virus. The latest statement over virus’ origin is a clear deviation from Pompeo’s earlier claim where he had said that there is “significant amount” of evidence that the novel coronavirus originated from a laboratory in Wuhan.

In stark contrast with Pompeo’s earlier assessment, top US general Mark Milley had said that it is still unknown whether the novel coronavirus originated from a wet market or some laboratory in China. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told a news conference that the US government is looking into the issue but indicated that it was probably not intentional.

"We don't have conclusive evidence in any of that, but the weight of evidence is that it was probably not intentional," the chairman said.

Read: US Senator Releases 18-point Plan To Hold China Accountable For COVID-19

Draft resolution on virus origin probe

A group of 62 nations, including India, has drafted a resolution for the World Health Assembly calling for a probe into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic. The World Health Organisation (WHO) meeting will be held on Monday at 3.30 PM which will be attended by all 194 member nations. The key focus of the two day Assembly will be the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed the lives of over 4 lakh people with approximately 4.6 million infected thus far.

Read: 62 Nations Issue 'Impartial, Independent, Comprehensive Evaluation' Warning To WHO & China

(Image credit: AP)

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Published May 18th, 2020 at 12:01 IST

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