White House says cannot confirm report on COVID-19 origins, needs more information

FILE PHOTO: A health worker does a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test as people wait at a drive-through COVID-19 testing center in a local street, in Newark, New Jersey, U.S., April 2, 2021. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

WASHINGTON — White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday the United States could not confirm a Wall Street Journal report on the origins of COVID-19 and needed more information.

Three researchers from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) sought hospital care in November 2019, a month before China reported the first cases of COVID-19, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing a U.S. intelligence report.

Psaki said the United States hopes the World Health Organization can move into a more transparent investigation of the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.