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China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lijian Zhao has suggested the deadly coronavirus could have originated in the US and slammed the country for blaming China for the disease spread.

The COVID-19 outbreak has been labelled a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) after it began in Wuhan in late December 2019 before spreading to every continent on Earth.

The virus has seen entire countries placed in lockdown, pushed financial markets to their worst day since 1987 and led governments to pledge hundreds of billions of dollars in assistance for businesses and those affected.

So far at least 137,445 have been infected with 5,088 deaths and some estimates claiming up to 80 per cent of the world’s population could contract the virus.

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In China’s Hubei province, where the outbreak began, the epidemic has now passed after a steady decline in new cases. The country is now sending medical experts to Italy to help fight the disease there and Beijing has ordered a quarantine on new arrivals.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lijian took aim at US Centre for Disease Control officials, saying they were “caught on the spot” when questioned about the virus.

“When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!” he tweeted.

He posted a link to an article published by a think tank previously accused of promoting conspiracy theories, which claimed the virus originated in the US.

“We hope certain US officials could focus on domestic response & international co-operation instead of trying to shift the blame to China by denigrating Chinese efforts to fight the epidemic. This is immoral & irresponsible, & will not help mitigate COVID-19 in US.”

He also denied China had engaged in a “cover up” of the disease, which the state has been widely accused of doing, including by doctors and medical insiders.

Republican senator Marco Rubio said the Chinese regime was trying to “save face internationally” by distracting from facts about the virus.

VIRUS EMPTIES STREETS AROUND THE WORLD

Daily life took on a surreal quality in many countries on Friday, with large-scale lockdowns in place to prevent the spread of the disease.

Spain was the latest to join Italy in locking down nearly 60,000 people overnight. Ireland has also ordered school closures and bans on mass gatherings.

The European Union (EU) which holds its open borders as a defining symbol of unity was forced to ask member states to put screening in place.

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The virus is now present in all 27 EU countries and more than 22,000 cases have been confirmed across the continent with 1000 people dying.

The WHO declared the continent the new “epicentre” of the pandemic on Friday, saying it had more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China.

"Europe has now become the epicenter of the #COVID19 pandemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from #China.



More cases are now being reported every day than were reported in 🇨🇳 at the height of its epidemic"-@DrTedros #coronavirus — World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 13, 2020

On Friday alone, Italy reported another 250 deaths, raising it’s total to 1266.

The disease has also led to widespread cancellations of music festivals and sporting fixtures, including Coachella and the English Premier League.

The Greek Olympic committee suspended the rest of its torch relay on Friday because of the “unexpectedly large crowd” that gathered to watch despite repeated requests for the public to stay away to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

In Iran, security forces will empty the streets in one of the hardest hit areas. Iran has a death toll of 514 with at least 11,364 diagnosed infections.

In the UK, those with mild symptoms are being urged to refrain from phoning health services to ease pressure on the NHS. Anyone with a cough and fever is being told to stay home for seven days. Britain’s Prince Charles was forced to cancel a trip to Bosnia, Cyprus and Jordan because of the outbreak, Clarence House said on Friday.

France too has announced strict measures, saying it would limit gatherings to no more than 100 people a day after closing schools until further notice.

In the US, the Trump administration announced it would dish out $1.3 million in federal money to two companies trying to develop rapid COVID-19 tests that could detect whether a person tests positive for the new coronavirus within an hour.

Questions were raised about whether officials should undergo further testing after Ivanka Trump was pictured standing next to Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who tested positive for the disease.

Kenya and Ethiopia announced their first confirmed cases of coronaviru on Friday as East Africa, which has so far been unscathed by the global pandemic, scaled up emergency measures to contain its spread.

– With wires