US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — US intelligence claims that China has concealed the extent of the outbreak of a new type of coronavirus and the degree of its infectiousness in order to stock up on medical supplies necessary to fight it, the Associated Press reports, citing documents.
An intelligence report said that while downplaying the severity of coronavirus, China increased imports and reduced exports of medical supplies. At the same time, the authorities tried to conceal this by “denying the existence of export restrictions, confusing and delaying the provision of their trade data.”
In addition, it is alleged that China hid information on the infectiousness of the coronavirus from the World Health Organization for almost all of January.
US President Donald Trump previously stated that the American side is considering versions that the new coronavirus originated in a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, and intends to establish its origin. The American president threatened China with consequences if it turns out that Beijing deliberately allowed the outbreak of COVID-19.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in turn, stated that China had taken an open and responsible position from the very beginning regarding the publication of data on the coronavirus epidemic.
On March 11, the World Health Organization announced an outbreak of a new coronavirus infection with COVID-19 pandemic. According to the latest WHO data , more than 3.3 million cases of infection have been recorded in the world, about 240 thousand people have died.
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