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Donald Trump has refused to dismiss US intelligence reports that Covid-19 originated in a virology lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Trump did not deny claims put to him by Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts, who said: ‘Multiple sources are telling Fox the US government now has high confidence that while the coronavirus is a naturally occurring virus, it emanated from a virology lab in Wuhan

‘Because of lax safety protocols an intern was infected who later infected her boyfriend and then went to the wet market in wuhan where it began to spread does that correspond (with what you have heard?)’



Trump answered: ‘I don’t want to say that John, but I will tell you, more and more were hearing the story and we’ll see.’

Trump also appeared to confirm the comments made by Roberts’ contacts, saying: ‘And when you’re saying multiple sources theres a case when you can use the word sources sources. But we are doing a very thorough examination of this horrible situation.’


Trump did not dismiss claims put to him by one journalist that Covid-19 had accidentally spread from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, pictured

Pressed whether he had discussed the matter with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump suggested that the two leaders had indeed discussed goings on at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, saying: ‘I don’t want to discuss what I talked to him about the laboratory. I just don’t want to discuss it. It’s inappropriate right now.’

Roberts’ comments appears to back previous reports claiming that Covid-19 was not deliberately engineered by scientists in the Virology Institute, but that it jumped from an animal to a human being as a result of safety lapses during experiments there

On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that US officials in Wuhan had warned of the potentially dangerous procedures at the Wuhan facility – which received $3.7million of US government funding – as far back as 2018, while scientists there were researching coronavirus in bats.

On March 27, 2018, the WIV released a press statement about a visit it received from Jamison Fouss, the consul general in Wuhan, and Rick Switzer, the US embassy’s counselor of environment, science, technology and health.

It was reportedly not the first time US officials visited the lab – where they were so concerned with safety and management problems that they sent two diplomatic cables, also known as a diplomatic telegram, to Washington, according to Post columnist Josh Rogin. Rogin claims to have obtained the first cable, which includes a warning about the lab’s research on bat coronaviruses and their ability to jump to humans.

‘During interactions with scientists at the WIV laboratory, they noted the new lab has a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory,’ according to the cable sent on January 19, 2018.

Coronavirus was first diagnosed in Wuhan late last year, with other reports speculating that it may have ‘jumped’ from an animal to a human at the city’s wet market, where live animals are slaughtered for food.

Wednesday’s White House press briefing also saw President