Trump yet again blames China for COVID-19 spread in US as total cases approach 8 million

US President Donald Trump blamed China for the “horrible” coronavirus situation in the United States as White House hopeful Joe Biden intensifies his attack on his Republican rival over the handling of COVID-19 outbreak. Addressing a re-election campaign rally in Iowa, Trump hit out at China’s ability to contain the virus inside the country but letting it spread in the rest of the world, including Europe and the United States.

“China stopped it from going into the rest of China but they did not stop it from coming out and going to Europe, the United States and the rest of the world," Trump told the rally where supporters were seen flouting social distancing norms.

Biden has repeatedly targeted Trump for his handling of coronavirus pandemic which has claimed over 215,000 lives in the worst-affected nation. According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, the United States has reported over 7.9 million confirmed cases of coronavirus, followed by India and Brazil.

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Pence following the script

During a vice-presidential debate earlier this month, incumbent Mike Pence had also laid the blame on China for the coronavirus pandemic, saying President Trump isn’t “happy about it”. Fox News moderator Susan Page had asked the candidates to share their views on the coronavirus response as the United States remains the worst-affected nation across the globe in terms of COVID-19 cases and related deaths.

“First and foremost, China is to blame for the coronavirus. And President Trump is not happy about it,” said Pence.

The Republican leader accused Beijing and the World Health Organisation (WHO) of not being transparent about the infectious nature of the disease. Pence said that China did not allow US personnel to enter the first epicentre of COVID-19 to get information on the novel coronavirus until the middle of February.

“We want to improve the relationship but we want a level playing field. We will hold China accountable for what they did to America with the coronavirus," Pence added.

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(With ANI inputs)