YONKERS, NY - APRIL 06: Medics wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), intubate a gravely ill patient with COVID-19 symptoms at his home on April 06, 2020 in Yonkers, New York. The man, 92, was barely breathing when they arrived, and they performed a rapid sequence intubation (RSI), on him before transporting him by ambulance to St. John's Riverside Hospital. The medics (L-R) are Capt. AJ Briones (paramedic), Michelle Melo (EMT), Carlos Cabrera (EMT). The Empress EMS employees treat and transport patients to hospitals throughout Westchester County and parts of New York City, the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. (Image: Getty)
White House declared Monday that the United States will not draw a conclusion on the origins of the COVID-19 virus without conducting an independent investigation and obtaining more data from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
“We are and we have repeatedly called for the World Health Organization to support an expert-driven evaluation of the pandemic’s origins that is free from interference and politicization,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced at a press briefing Monday.
The question regarding the origins of the virus surfaced again after a Wall Street Journal report Sunday. Three researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology reportedly got sick and sought care in a hospital in November 2019, a month before the COVID-19 was officially recognized by WHO.
At Monday’s briefing, Psaki was asked repeatedly about this story, which has fueled questions about whether the White House believes the virus came from the lab leak rather than coming from an animal.
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“It doesn’t mean we can draw a conclusion. We don’t have enough information to draw a conclusion about the origins. There is a need to look into a range of options. We need data, we need an independent investigation, and that’s what we’ve been calling for,” Psaki told reporters when asked about the origin of the coronavirus.
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