The Trump administration has demanded that China “come clean” about the origins of Covid-19 amid reports the virus spread from a lab in Wuhan. Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, said America wanted “the Chinese government to open up” and help explain “exactly how this virus spread” after pointing out that the outbreak originated close to where the Chinese state-backed Institute of Virology is located. The comments came after Fox News reported that unnamed sources believe the virus was initially transmitted from a bat to a human in a virology lab in Wuhan. Given poor safety controls, an infected lab worker then visited a seafood market from where the virus spread. “What we do know is we know that this virus originated in Wuhan, China,” Mr Pompeo told Fox. “We know there is the Wuhan Institute of Virology just a handful of miles away from where the wet market was. There is still lots to learn. The United States government is working diligently to figure it out.”
