US Blames China For The Spread Of COVID-19

The US government has blamed Chinese for the creation of the novel coronavirus and accused the communist nation for hiding the outbreak from the rest of the world before, coronavirus claiming the lives of so many people across the world.

White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Director Peter Navarro said that, "China spun that virus. They hid it for six weeks. They could contain it in Wuhan. They didn't. They seeded the world with this, with hundreds of thousands of Chinese getting on aircraft to Milan, to New York and other places.” Navarro asserted that the US economy is shut down because of COVID-19

He further added that, "During that six-week period, what they did was they vacuumed up the world for personal protective equipment, over two billion masks, depriving public healthcare workers around the world from the defences they need. And today China's profiteering basically from this situation."

Navarro responded to a question on comments made by Microsoft founder Bill Gates that it is not the time to blame China for the spread of coronavirus as, "Mr. Gates and I will differ on the need to hold China accountable. That's certainly the case because the Chinese Communist Party basically inflicted this virus on the world. And we should never forget that here in America."

The Indian Council of Medical Research on Monday asked the states and union territories to stop using the rapid antibody COVID-19 testing kits that have been procured from China due to “wide variation" in the effectiveness of the equipment. India procured around five lakh rapid antibody test kits from the two Chinese firms, Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech and Livzon Diagnostics. The kits have been distributed to several states. (Inputs from agencies)

Also Read: ‘Virtual Visiting Hour’ For COVID-19 Patients At ‘Kolkata’ Hospital