ISLAMABAD: Evidence suggests the coronavirus originated in bats in China in late 2019 and was not made in a laboratory, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Tuesday.
The comment from the United Nation’s health agency came days after US President Donald Trump said the US was trying to determine whether the virus originated from a lab in Wuhan, China.
“All available evidence suggests the virus has an animal origin and is not a manipulated or constructed virus in a lab or somewhere else,” WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told a news briefing in Geneva, international media reported on Tuesday.
“It is probable, likely that the virus is of animal origin,” she said, adding that there had “certainly” been an intermediate animal host before the virus was transmitted to humans.
Current and former US intelligence officials said last week the country’s intelligence community was examining whether the coronavirus emerged accidentally from a Chinese lab studying diseases in bats. The lab in question has denied the accusation, calling it a “conspiracy theory.”
The WHO and Trump have had a dramatic falling-out over the pandemic, with the president announcing last week that he is halting his country’s funding to the organisation.
Trump accused the WHO of mishandling its response to the pandemic. The WHO responded by saying it would not be appropriate to suspend funding during the global outbreak.
The WHO said Tuesday it was still assessing the impact of blocked US funds to the organisation and that it would work with its partners to fill any gaps.
Earlier, Trump said he will temporarily ban immigration to the United States to combat the "invisible enemy" of coronavirus, a drastic new step in his anti-immigration crusade, but gives no further details.
"In light of the attack from the invisible enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!" he tweeted late Monday.
Meanwhile, WHO also warned that any lifting of lockdowns to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus must be gradual, and if restrictions were to be relaxed too soon, there would be a resurgence of infections.
Lockdown measures have proved effective, and people must be ready for a new way of living to allow society to function while the coronavirus is being kept incheck, said Takeshi Kasai, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.
“We must adapt our lives and health systems along with the epidemic,” Kasai told an online press conference. Meanwhile, the United Nations General Assembly demanded global action to quickly scale up the development of and access to medicines, vaccines and equipment to battle the pandemic, while the WHO warned that rushing to ease coronavirus lockdowns could lead to a resurgence of the outbreak.
The UN resolution asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to work with the WHO and make recommendations to ensure that all people have equitable and timely access to testing, medical supplies, drugs and future vaccines, especially in developing countries.
African officials have been outspoken about the need for medical supplies across the 54-nation continent, where health systems have historically been underfunded and will be overwhelmed by the virus.
Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said the number of people facing acute food insecurity could nearly double this year to 265 million due to the economic fallout of COVID-19.
The impact of lost tourism revenues, falling remittances and travel and other restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic are expected to leave some 130 million people acutely hungry this year, adding to around 135 million already in that category.
"COVID-19 is potentially catastrophic for millions who are already hanging by a thread," said Arif Husain, chief economist and director of research, assessment and monitoring at the WFP. The 193 members of the UN General Assembly also called for "equitable, efficient and timely" access to any future vaccines developed to fight the coronavirus.
The resolution also highlighted the "crucial leading role" played by the WHO, which has faced criticism from the United States and others over its handling of the pandemic.
The resolution was drafted by Mexico and received US support. It calls for strengthening the "scientific international cooperation necessary to combat COVID-19 and to bolster coordination," including with the private sector.
More than 2,558,538 infections have now been reported and at least 177,177 people have died, according to latest reports.
The United States has the most deaths of any country with 45,126. Italy is the second hardest-hit country, with 24,648 dead. Spain follows with 21,282, then France with 20,796 and Britain with 17,337. As many as 6,800 people died in last 24 hours.
In India, about 500 people entered self-isolation at the Presidential House in the capital on Tuesday after a worker's relative tested positive for coronavirus, officials said, as the number of cases nationwide neared 18,000 despite a strict lockdown.
India's 1.3 billion people have been ordered to remain indoors for 40 days to slow the spread of the virus so that the country's hospitals are not overwhelmed by a flood of infections.
So far, three-quarters of the cases are concentrated in seven of the country's 28 states and these include the city-state of Delhi, as well as the western state of Maharashtra where the financial centre Mumbai is located.
The alarm was raised at President Ram Nath Kovind's residence in the centre of Delhi after the daughter-in-law of a sanitation worker living in the workers' quarters tested positive, officials said.
Neither President Kovind, 74, or his aides were required to self-isolate, but palace workers' families living in 114 apartments on the grounds were ordered to stay inside, while the seven members of the sanitation worker's family were moved to a quarantine facility.
So far nobody else has been infected on the premises. "It may be clarified that till date no employee of President's Secretariat has tested positive for COVID-19 and the secretariat along with the local administration is taking all the preventive measures required under the government guidelines," the president's office said in a statement.
Under India’s constitution, the president is a titular head of the republic with executive power vested in the prime minister and his cabinet.
The palace, Rashtrapati Bhavan, was the former residence of the viceroy during British colonial times, and lies at the head of the ceremonial boulevard, Rajpath, at the opposite end from India Gate.
An employee of India's parliament also tested positive, but had not come to their office, an official said, as the administrative section of the legislature opened on Monday as part of a staggered exit from the lockdown.
Iran´s judiciary said on Tuesday that it has temporary released more than 1,000 foreign prisoners due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, following criticism by UN human rights experts. "What Iran has done in guaranteeing prisoners´ health and granting furlough to them is a significant move" compared with what other countries have done, said judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili.
Spain saw a slight increase in the daily virus death toll on Tuesday, with 430 people dying in the past 24 hours, health ministry data showed.
Officials say the numbers tend to go up slightly on Tuesdays following a slight delay in receiving data from the regions on deaths that have occurred over the weekend.
Saudi Arabia plans to ease curfew hours it imposed on several cities during the holy month of Ramazan to allow people more time to shop for essential needs within the boundaries of their neighbourhoods, state news agency (SPA) reported on Tuesday.
Currently, people living in areas under 24-hour curfew can go out for healthcare and to supermarkets from 6am to 3pm. In Ramazan these hours will start from 9am until 5pm, SPA said.