《TAIPEI TIMES》 Australia wants inquiry into COVID-19 outbreak

/ Reuters, MELBOURNE

Australia yesterday added to growing pressure on China over its handling of COVID-19, questioning its transparency and demanding an international investigation into the origins of the virus and how it spread.

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The virus is believed to have emerged in a market selling wildlife in Wuhan, China, late last year. It has spread around the world infecting more than 2.33 million people and killing nearly 161,000 of them, according Johns Hopkins University’s tally yesterday.

Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marise Payne said her concern about China’s transparency was at a “a very high point.”

“The issues around the coronavirus are issues for independent review, and I think that it is important that we do that,” Payne told Australian Broadcasting Corp television.

“In fact, Australia will absolutely insist on that,” she said.

Australia has managed to get its epidemic under control before it strained its public health system, reporting 53 new cases yesterday. They took its total to 6,586, according to Australian Department of Health data.

There have been 71 deaths in Australia. The rate of increase in new cases has been below 1 percent for seven consecutive days — much lower than in many other countries.

Payne’s call for an enquiry into the outbreak comes at a time of tense ties between her country and its most important trading partner.

Relations have deteriorated amid Australian accusations of Chinese meddling in domestic affairs and concern about what Australia sees as China’s growing, and undue, influence in the Pacific region.

“My trust in China is predicated in the long-term,” Payne said. “My concern is around transparency and ensuring that we are able to engage openly.”

China dismisses such criticism saying it has been open about the outbreak and in warning the world about it.

Australian Minister of Health Greg Hunt criticized the WHO, saying some of its response to the coronavirus was not helpful.

“What we saw from some officials in Geneva, we think was a response which didn’t help the world,” Hunt told a briefing. “We have done well, because we made our own decisions as a country.”

Australia went against the advice of the WHO on Feb. 1 and banned people arriving from China. It later closed its borders and imposed strict curbs on public movements.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES