Day after Trump claim, WHO says coronavirus 'natural in origin'. WHO responds to comments by US president, who claimed he has seen evidence the virus originated in a Chinese lab.
The World Health Organization - spearheaded by emergencies programme director Michael Ryan (left) and Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (right) - said it wanted to be invited to take part in Chinese investigations into the animal origins of the pandemic [Denis Balibouse/Reuters] The World Health Organization (WHO) has reiterated that the new coronavirus was of natural origin after United States President Donald Trump claimed he had seen evidence it originated in a Chinese lab. Scientists believe the killer virus jumped from animals to humans, emerging in China late last year, possibly from a market in Wuhan, China selling exotic animals for meat. Trump claimed on Thursday that he had seen proof that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was actually the source of the outbreak, although he refused to give details. Asked about Trump's claim during a virtual news conference, WHO emergencies chief Michael Ryan on Friday stressed that the United Nations health agency h