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France sees no evidence linking COVID-19 to Wuhan lab

Friday, 17 April 2020 22:57

HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP

France has dismissed reports of any links between the new coronavirus and a research lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the pandemic started.

An official at French President Emmanuel Macron's office said there is no factual evidence to support the increasingly US-backed claims.

France has been forced to respond because in 2004, it signed an agreement with China to establish a research laboratory on infectious diseases in Wuhan.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said his government was trying to determine whether the virus came from the Wuhan lab, while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Beijing 'to come clean' on what they know.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

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