An electronic screen shows information on COVID-19 tests in New York, the United States, on Aug. 9, 2020. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States surpassed the 5 million mark on Sunday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
BLAME GAME
Since the onset of the pandemic, the Trump administration has been addicted to a blame game, heaping baseless accusations against China and the World Health Organization (WHO) to divert Americans' attention away from the virus.
Labeling the virus as the "China virus," the Trump administration claimed it was lab-made in Wuhan and blamed China for hiding the truth, despite the fact that China immediately briefed the WHO, the United States and other countries after it identified the COVID-19 outbreak.
On Jan. 12, China released the whole genome sequence of the coronavirus, which has proved critical for diagnosis and treatment of the disease globally.
The conspiracy theory claiming that the novel coronavirus was made in the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China has also been rejected by top scientists around the world.
Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University, said that "my judgement continues to be that (COVID-19) is consistent with a naturally occurring source," according to The Washington Post.
Ian Lipkin, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University, also told The Washington Post there is no evidence to support "the idea that this (the virus) is released deliberately or inadvertently."
Studies on the origin of the virus have overwhelmingly shown that the novel coronavirus originated naturally rather than from any institution.
The WHO, which was created to improve health globally, has also been targeted by the Trump administration.
To the astonishment of many American experts, the administration has begun to withdraw from the WHO last month, accusing it of being too close to China and having mishandled the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. move deals a blow to the fragile global cooperation on pandemic control.
France and Germany decided to quit talks on reforming the WHO because ironically, the United States, despite its decision to leave the organization, still attempts to lead the negotiations, the Reuters reported on Friday.
"Nobody wants to be dragged into a reform process and getting an outline for it from a country which itself just left the WHO," a senior European official was quoted by the report as saying.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chief of the WHO, said on Thursday that the COVID-19 pandemic can not be defeated in a divided world, and he hopes the United States will "reconsider its position" on the decision to withdraw from the organization.
"Now it's time to work together, it's time to focus on fighting the virus. So I hope the U.S. will reconsider its position," the WHO director-general said at the Aspen Security Forum via video link.
