China's coronavirus ground-zero city of Wuhan on Friday abruptly raised its death toll by 50 per cent to a total of 3,869, admitting that many cases were "mistakenly reported" or missed entirely.
The adjustment, detailed in a social media posting by the city government, adds 1,290 deaths to the tally in Wuhan, where the global pandemic emerged and which has suffered the vast majority of China's fatalities from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Team US takes on China
A powerful group of Senators Thursday urged President Donald Trump to work with American allies such as Japan, South Korea, and European nations to pursue an open and transparent probe into the origins of the novel coronavirus, as well as the WHO's decision-making on the crisis.
Led by Republican Senator Marco Rubio from Florida, the Senators also urged the President to appoint a high-level Envoy to lead international coordination efforts both for COVID-19 response and for related investigations.
Other signatories to the letter are Senators Marsha Blackburn, Thom Tillis, John Cornyn, Roger Wicker, Ted Cruz, Dan Sullivan and Mike Lee.
From the beginning of the outbreak of COVID-19, a disease caused by a novel coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have gone great lengths to cover up, deflect, and even directly blame the United States for the outbreak, the Senators alleged.
Once this pandemic is under control, there will need to be a thorough international investigation into the origins of the virus and the People's Republic of China's (PRC) alleged abuse of international organisations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), they said.
"Therefore, we urge you to direct your administration, including Secretary Pompeo and Ambassador Craft to work with our allies and partners such as Japan, South Korea, and European nations to pursue an open and transparent investigation into the origins of COVID-19, as well as the WHO's decision-making related to the crisis," the Senators said.
"We also urge you to appoint a high-level Presidential Envoy to lead international coordination efforts both for COVID-19 response and for related investigations," said the letter dated April 17.
